Paper Moon
by LackingDelirium
Summary: "Do you think he knows?" "Not a chance, the boy is oblivious." In where Mira and Makarov have decided Laxus cannot be alone anymore. Naturally, they play matchmaker with little to no caution. And they have the perfect girl for the job. What could go wrong?
1. Chapter 1

**Paper Moon**

 _ **Chapter One**_

* * *

 **Fairy Tail Guild**

 **Main hall**

 **Fiore**

"You're sure you saw him?" Cana leaned forward conspiratorially, clutching her barrel possessively. Mira's smile stretched from ear to ear. "I didn't hear any thunder. So are you _sure?_ "

"You know I did. He's upstairs talking to the Master." Cana's eyes wandered up to the second floor. _What could it be?_ Laxus normally wasn't one to really hang out around the guild, catching glimpses of him were rare sights, far in between, Cana assumed he deemed the guild noisy.

But something changed.

Laxus hadn't left the guild in a few weeks, not for long anyways. Her inner gossip was resurfacing, Cana was itching to find out what prompted this visit. It also wasn't often that Laxus and Gramps had private conversations away from everyone else. Laxus certainly was starting to be around a whole lot more, his jobs taking him much closer to home than usual. Maybe this was the reason.

"Huh, I wonder what they're talking about." Maybe Mira would share her thoughts, she didn't place the idea in her head for no reason. Mira was after all, known as the resident gossiper. And for good reason too, she knew all the secrets of everyone and everything. Everyone had a price and Mira was good at finding it.

Mira's grin seriously seemed to hide some knowledge. More unusual was that she didn't seem eager to share the news. _That's very unlike her._ She merely giggled, "maybe the Master wants to pass him the title?"

Cana snorted and took a swig from her barrel. " _Right._ Laxus may have helped us and he's less of an asshole, but _Guild Master?_ That's a hard one to believe." She took another swig before continuing, "I mean, sure he's the Master's grandson and all that but he's _stubborn_ and kind of an asshole. It's hard to believe he could lead this rowdy bunch. Besides, Gramps will never retire." A future without the old guy was rather gloomy. There was a moment of silence before Cana shrugged. Mira obviously wasn't willing to share and Cana bored easily. Her interest quickly dwindled, her energy focused on the alcohol in front of her.

Too focused on the barrel, Cana failed to see Mira's smile widen. Mira busied herself with wiping the glassware down. No need to have everything in the guild know right? At least not right now. Everything had to be set in motion first. It would all work out. After all, the Master entrusted her with serious work. And she would see it through. As long as the others did their parts.

* * *

 **Fairy Tail Guild**

 **Second Floor**

 **Fiore**

Laxus scoffed at his grandfather. "That's the _only way_? Are you serious Gramps?" His fingers sparked in irritation. _The old geezer_ really _is losing it._

Makarov leaned back in his desk with his hands crossed behind him, completely unconcerned with his grandson's hissy fit. A self-satisfied smirk crossed his weathered face. _This was going to be good._ "You heard me Laxus. The only way I'll allow you to take another S-class job again is if you follow my instructions. You need to learn some responsibility." It was a pile of horseshit, but Laxus didn't need to know that. He could tell his grandson was struggling to defy him, Laxus was practically buzzing. However, as this was his 'test' Laxus would find a way to pass it. Or die trying.

"Responsibility? Haven't I done enough?" Compared to the other guild members Laxus was practically _oozing_ responsibility. Makarov was silent, choosing instead to fold the paperwork in front of him into a swan. Laxus took a deep breath, sensing there was no point in fighting with the old man, "why now?" No answer, and his stomach tightened, he was starting to feel agitated. "You know what? Fine, but _really?_ Do I look like a chaperone to you?" His grandfather was definitely going senile if he thought _this_ was a good idea.

"Oh come on boy, you know not to judge on appearances. Who knows maybe this is your chance to explore who you are, to really get down to what makes you. Maybe you're going to realize some lifelong hidden desire to become a caretaker. Besides, you need to learn how to care for others." Makarov said cheerfully, continuing to concentrate on the paper bird.

Laxus snorted. " _Right._ You do realize even if I agree to this-this _bullshit_ Natsu is still gonna try and fight me? And the fact that I can't stand anyone on his team." Not completely true, he could stand maybe _one_ person a little more than the others. But the old geezer didn't need to know that. Something he couldn't read gleaned in Makarov's eyes, though he chose to ignore it.

Laxus's eyes narrowed when he saw his grandfather's insufferable smirk widen. "Well as the _chaperone_ you're forbidden from harming your group members." Laxus rolled his eyes. _Of course_.

"Whatever. So I just babysit for a mission and that's it? I'm good to go?" Makarov gave him a nod. "Wait, what about Erza?"

"What about her?"

Laxus rolled his eyes. "Don't play coy, why do they need me to chaperone if they already have an S-Class wizard?"

"Ah, in exactly thirty minutes, Erza will be assigned to another job, by personal request."

Laxus couldn't protest much more, it seemed the geezer had thought of everything. "Whatever. And will Team Dumbass be okay with me replacing their precious Titania?"

"They will be." It was as good as a dismissal as he could get. As he turned and walked out, Laxus definitely felt as if he had just walked himself into a trap. He must be paranoid. The last thing he wanted to do was work with Natsu and his insane team. _Well here goes my sanity._

Secretly, Laxus would babysit a thousand missions if the the old man asked. Good luck getting him to admit it though. "Oh and Laxus?" He gave his grandfather a glance over his shoulder, "Do try and have fun." Laxus gave in to the urge to roll his eyes again. He made sure his grandfather saw him.

As soon as Laxus left his office, Makarov let out a deep laugh. This would all work out in the end. And if it didn't, at least his stubborn grandson would learn some patience.

He rubbed his hands together. His dear grandson had been alone far too long. He may have the Thunder Legion worshiping his every foot step, but that was no replacement for _love._ Sending him on this mission would be just what the doctor ordered. Provided, of course that Mira did her part.

It wouldn't be hard to convince the girl of her feelings, hopefully. But she tended to be oblivious just like Laxus. That's why they were perfect for each other!

Oh how he loved matchmaking.

* * *

 **Fairy Tail Guild**

 **Main Hall**

 **Fiore**

Lucy glared at Natsu. To his credit, he was ignoring the ominous look he was receiving and focused solely on finishing her fries. "Isn't it enough you eat the food at my house? Then we come to the guild and you eat my food here! Why don't you eat your own food?" _He's such a pig. I have two animals for partners. Awesome._

"Cause yours is always better." Lucy ignored the smile threatening to tug at the corners of her mouth. She settled by leaning against the palm of her hand. She didn't really mind but she would never let Natsu know. Then he would take advantage of her generosity. She'd be out of a home _and food._

She took a deep sigh and looked around the guild hall; of course it was the same old same old. Even after all these years, everyone was pretty predictable in their routine. Her eyes wandered over every table and she felt her heart sink for some inexplicable reason, _he_ wasn't there. She frowned deeply, this was getting ridiculous. It wasn't like he was at the guild all the time anyways. There were weeks of absence, the odds he was there was very unlikely.

Erza joining the group at the table shook Lucy out from her daydream. "This is no time for fooling around. I found a mission that I think would cover Lucy's rent and leave us with a surplus of side money." Before Erza could truly finish, Lucy nearly _yanked_ the paper from Erza's hand.

She would do any job if it meant alleviate this boredom!

Her eyes quickly scanned it, she would worry about her death sentence later. This-this was unbelievable! _We hit the jackpot!_ "1,000,000 jewels for collecting a _mushroom_? That's it? It can't get much better than this! We have to take it!" Lucy pleaded to Erza, trying to convince the redhead of the miracle this job was.

That was roughly 200,000 jewels each person! _Oh man that would pay my rent! And maybe I can do a bit of shopping…Levy and I_ have _been looking at that new shop..._

Erza nodded solemnly. Lucy did a little fist pump in the air and Erza smiled before continuing. "I shall let Mira know we'll be taking the job. Be ready to head out in an hour. Meet me at the train station."

Natsu's head perked up. The fries were now left ignored on Lucy's plate. His face was the picture of complete dread. " _Transportation?"_

"Yeah how else are we supposed to get there dumbass?" Gray said casually from the end of the table. Natsu's head swerved so fast, Lucy worried his neck would break. _Here we go again_.

"Seriously guys? Can't you drop it this time?" They ignored her, as she knew they would do. In fact, they continued as if they hadn't heard her.

"Oh yeah you wanna go ice-brain?" Of course those two had to start something.

"Listen buddy, I can kick your ass any day." Gray stood up roughly from the table. Natsu copied the movement, their foreheads butting against each other.

"Oh yeah?"

Lucy sighed. "Gray?" His concentration broke for a second. "Your clothes." She deadpanned.

Promptly followed by the subsequent freak out.

Lucy got up from the table. _Might as well start packing for the trip._ She let the boys fight it out. Hopefully, Erza would get back and put an end to it.

If that was the case, she was outta there before the scarlet wizard could return. No reason to be punished for something she didn't want a part of. The doors shut quietly behind her.

Lucy always enjoyed the walk home from the guild. It gave her the chance to clear her head and to examine events in detail. She wondered how her father was doing, Lucy would write him a letter before she left, after all, it had been a while since she wrote him. Now that Lucy had the time to think about the job clearly, she wondered what the catch was with the job. It seemed too good to be true. Things like that didn't happen to Fairy Tail, and definitely not to Lucy. Maybe the mushroom was to be used in a sacrificial ritual, or it could be another attempt to kidnap her, (they tended to happen with a shocking regularity.) But if it wasn't… _oh just imagine the possibilities! If Natsu and Happy aren't eating me out of a house, Erza and Gray are usually destroying my furniture...They take 'the floor is lava' way too seriously._

She didn't have much time to dwell on it for she arrived at the front door. Lucy quickly ran up the stairs, hoping to avoid her landlady. The closer her rent approached the more uneasy the older lady got. Soon, she would find her landlady in the oddest of places, hoping to corner Lucy and bully her for her rent. _No need to go through all that._

Her heart pounded by the time she had ran up and slammed her door shut. For once, there was no one in her apartment. Relief washed over her. She could pack in peace.

Soon she was packed and ready to head out. The silence unnerved her, so she summoned Plue to keep her company on the walk over.

"That's funny, I didn't think there was going to be a thunderstorm." The sky that had just been clear was a dark grey.

* * *

 **Magnolia Train Station**

 **Fiore**

"Natsu! Gray!" Lucy waved brightly at her friends. The two wizards were currently sitting next to each other on a bench. From the look of things, they were trying very hard to push the other off the bench. _Gray is going to win this one,_ Lucy thought.

Natsu noticed her first. "Hey Lucy!" She quickly looked around and noticed a certain wizard with a penchant to over pack was missing.

Her eyebrows furrowed, "hey, where's Erza?" It wasn't like their friend to be late.

Natsu's eyes widened. "E-Erza? Where?" He shot up straight and looked around wildly.

Gray crossed his arms."Now that you mention it, I haven't seen her yet." He shoved Natsu hard with his elbow and pushed the fire wizard off the bench. _Called it._

Lucy chose to ignore what she just witnessed. "Yeah, isn't she normally the first one here? You don't think she ran into trouble, do you? It's not like her to be late." _I hope nothing happened. Then again, it_ is _Erza. More like something probably ran into her._

"Erza isn't coming." The voice came from behind Lucy and the unexpected noise made her jump. She followed the surprised facial expressions from her teammates.

She was met with steely grey eyes and blond hair. Her cheeks instantly reddened when she saw who it was. _Please, anyone but him_. "Laxus?"

His smirk was positively wicked as he greeted her, "hey there, Blondie."

Lucy gulped.

* * *

 **Fairy Tail Guild**

 **Second Floor**

 **Fiore**

"But Master-"

"Erza, really. It's one time. Your team will live without you once."

The redhead frowned. If Makarov insisted on it, she would listen. He never did anything without good reason. "Of course Master. I will step aside and do the job. However, how will Natsu and the others go on an S-Class mission without an S-Class wizard?" After everything, that rule was never lifted.

He gave her a winning smile. "I knew you were up to it! And don't you worry, I have it all figured out." Oh, all his planning! It was coming to fruition.

"I just still don't understand why I have to protect a resort." Her forehead crumpled slightly. "Surely, anyone else could also do this job. Even Nab could do this. If he ever took a job, that is."

"Now, now my dear, I chose you because you are the most capable for this job! I have no doubt in my mind that you will bring honor to this guild." _No harm in trying to butter her up._ By the look of her, it was working. A slight blush spread across her face.

Erza kneeled in front of his desk, "How could I ever doubt you master? I am not worthy! I only hope this mission will bring you and the guild honor!" She quickly spun around and was gone in the blink of an eye.

 _Dramatic much?_ "Do you think we should have told her?" Makarov turned his head and gave Mira, who had stepped out of the shadows. A mischievous smile appeared on his face.

"I tried to, but you saw Erza, she ran out of here like Ichiya was after her." He shrugged his shoulders and waved away Mira's concern. "No worries, this I'll be a good thing. No need to involve her. Plus, I believe she'll love the extra surprise I threw in."

"Oh you mean-?" Mira clutched her hands hopefully. This was quickly turning into the best day ever!

* * *

 **This is AU with no clear point in the storyline of Fairy Tail. You can consider it like a stand-alone, mostly because I'm too lazy to think of where a good point this would take place. So just put it where it feels natural. I've been dying for a LaLu so I figured I would write my own. And this idea has been brewing for a while, keep in mind i use no outlines and i'm kinda inconsistent in my updating and story, so I"ll try my best to keep everything natural.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Paper Moon**

 _ **Chapter Two**_

* * *

 **Magnolia Train Station**

 **Fiore**

"Laxus?"

"Hey there, Blondie." Lucy felt the air leave her body too soon. Why was _he_ here? She had questions but couldn't find the words to speak them. It didn't help that being in his proximity made her brain short. She couldn't form a single coherent thought. Thankfully, Natsu answered for her. Until she remembered Natsu was a complete _moron._

"Where's Erza? And why the hell are you here?" Natsu smirked, "oh, you're here to get your butt kicked right?" He cracked his knuckles and went into a fighting stance. "That's good for you, cause I can do it right NOW!" She was right, Natsu really was a moron. _How did I not see this coming?_

He hadn't taken two steps before Laxus swiftly punched him, shocking Natsu to the ground in a dead faint. He grabbed Natsu's ankles and dragged him over onto the train. He raised his eyebrows at the other three Guild members. "Are you coming? Or are you just gonna stand there? I'll explain everything on the train."

In a heartbeat, Gray and Happy were right behind Laxus. Lucy hesitated. _What's he doing here? This is_ not _good._ She could feel her heart race and chose to take a deep breath. No matter what she felt she would push it all aside to complete the job. Besides, the reward was too enticing to forget over some juvenile _feelings_. _I'm a member of Fairy Tail and we don't give up!_

They quickly followed behind Laxus as he pulled open an empty compartment. She slid into the seat across Laxus and nearly jumped out of her skin when he stood up and placed Natsu next to her. _Oh, well that's normal. Natsu usually sits next to me._

"Firebrain has a habit of drooling and I don't want to deal with it." Laxus sat back down and made himself comfortable.

"And you think I want him drooling on me?" Lucy complained, pursing her lips.

"I figured you were used to it. He sleeps in your bed right?" Why did that sound like a challenge? She must have been imagining things because Lucy thought she heard a twinge of jealousy in Laxus's voice. But that was ridiculous, this was Laxus.

Lucy blushed and crossed her arms, did _everyone_ know about that? And why did they make it seem like they...did _things?_ He was like her gross younger brother and she loved him to pieces. "Well, it's not like I invite him in. He just shows up." Gray filed in and took the seat next to Laxus. _Boy am I glad I don't have to sit next to Laxus. Not like that's a bad thing..._

"Ugh, what happened?" Natsu stirred and shook his head a little. "Where are we?" He looked around and saw Laxus, his previous head injury forgotten. "That's right, I was about to kick your ass." He stood, but before he could even do anything, the train slowly started to move and he slumped back weakly, face green.

"Well, that's done. Now, are you going to tell us why you're here instead of Erza?" Lucy listened to Gray interrogate Laxus. She wasn't really up to joining him. She had her hands full balancing a sick Natsu on her lap. _How did he even get on my lap so quickly?_ All while trying to avoid Laxus's piercing stare.

"Sure, I'm here to make sure you idiots don't demolish the town."

"So, you're telling us the Master sent you to _babysit_ us?" Gray sounded especially indignant. He crossed his arms and glared at Laxus. Lucy shifted uncomfortably. She wasn't necessarily opposed to having Laxus here, he _was_ an S-Class wizard and could handle anything. The view wasn't bad either. If only she wasn't so uncomfortable around him.

To his credit, Laxus looked completely indifferent. "You heard me popsicle. I don't know, maybe you _need_ supervision. Team Natsu _is_ the most destructive team we have. Trust me, the last thing I wanna do is fight all your battles. I have better things to do."

"You aren't fighting our battles!" Lucy's eyes widened when she realized she had said that. She quickly slapped her hand over her mouth. _What was I thinking? Great way to make him notice you._ Both Gray and Laxus stared at her blankly. She gathered her remaining confidence and ignored her flushed face, "I mean, you aren't. You just said it- we're Team Natsu and we always hold our own. We haven't had anyone do anything for us and we won't start now."

As if motivated by her unexpected speech, Gray cheered her on. "Yeah! As far as I care, you're just here to supervise. So you can tell the Master, after this is all done that we don't need you or anyone to watch us."

There was a bit of a pregnant pause where Lucy thought they were about to die. She couldn't remember the last time someone had spoke to Laxus like that and lived. Laxus merely gave them a hint of a smile. "Huh, you guys have more backbone than I thought. Maybe this won't be a complete waste of time."

She couldn't help herself. Lucy gave him a bright smile and made herself busy by pulling out a map, effectively hiding her red face. She cleared her throat, hating how shaky her voice was. "So the job calls for finding this special mushroom called _Lia tyriaf,_ otherwise known as 'paper moon' because of its round top and thinness. It only grows once every five years in a very specific kind of forest, the areas around Laurel Grove are the only places it's been sighted at."

"What's so special about it?" Gray asked.

"Well, it supposedly has magical properties, but it's so rare that it hasn't really been documented. One thing it worth thinking about is that the paper moon doesn't like the sun, so it's probably in denser forest areas."

Gray frowned and Lucy couldn't help but feel a little bad for dragging her team on this job. "That's not a lot to go on."

"I know, but it's the best we have. Once we meet the client we can find more out." She finally looked up from her map and saw Laxus looking at her intently. She shifted again. "W-what's wrong?" _Mavis's sake! When did I become such a nervous wreck? Get it together Lucy, it's just Laxus. Oh who are you kidding? It's_ because _it's Laxus._

"You're smarter than you seem Blondie." Why did he sound vaguely impressed?

"Excuse me? What's that supposed to mean?" All previous thoughts on how tingly Laxus made her feel went right out the door. Her sense of self-righteousness was stronger. _Who does he think he is? And he's blond too!_

He put his hands ahead of him, as a sign of peace. "Whoa, I meant it as a compliment, I know you're a smart cookie. I like that about you" Was it just her or was his voice...gentler? No, she had to be imagining it. Laxus was not one for gentleness.

"Erm… thanks." She figured it was best to let it go. Even if it was a shitty apology. She turned her head to the window, effectively ending all conversation and hoping that the train ride would go faster.

* * *

Laxus was a little bored, that and he was trying his best not hurl. Wendy's troia spell was starting to wear off just a little, making him a little nauseous. Not thinking about it helped. So he focused on his surroundings.

Lucy seemed jumpy around him and it was odd because they previously had a pretty good relationship. Up until recently of course, just after he started to work closer to home, she clammed up. _Wonder why_ … She avoided his eyes like the plague and wasn't really able to talk, unless she was preaching at him of course. If Team Natsu was good at anything, it was definitely spouting speeches at random. Oddly, watching her cheeks puff up was somewhat endearing.

He appreciated a woman who knew how to speak her mind.

Yet this job… he couldn't help but wonder why Gramps had put him on it in the first place. Surely Mira would have been a better choice. With Kina helping out at the guild, Mira had more time for jobs and such. He had never even heard of 'paper moon' but he wasn't the go-to when it came to plants. Ever or Freed would have been in heaven when it came to something like this. They were both _weird_ and liked stupid stuff like this. Laxus could imagine Freed creaming his pants just to be able to see the damn fungus.

He leaned back in his seat and tried to relax. Which seemed like the opposite of what Team Natsu was doing. Gray, who sat next to him, looked very tense; his fists clenched and unclenched, and his jaw was locked tightly. Laxus suppressed a chuckle. Was he tense because he was next to him? It was nice to see that the little shit was _slightly_ wary of him.

Lucy seemed to try her best to look out the window even though the view was just grassland. Happy had fallen asleep on Natsu. Maybe he should try and talk to the others. He wasn't the talking type, but putting them at ease would help. He was going to be spending quite a bit of time with them.

"That's why." Both members swung to look at Laxus. He gestured towards the sleeping dragon slayer. "It's been quiet and I don't have a headache."

"Hold on, Natsu is motion sick _again._ Yet, you aren't. How is that possible?" Gray asked him. "Are you not as strong as him?" The end of the sentence was said with a jeering tone.

"I'm going to ignore that last part because I'm such a nice guy. Say that again and I'll put you six feet under. Not that I owe you an explanation but I asked Wendy to help me out. This should last me the whole train ride. It's only a few hours away to Kunugi station and we'll be walking the rest of the way to Laurel Grove, about 45 minutes away." He didn't mention that the spell didn't really last very long. The only real reason he had the blunette help him was so that Natsu wouldn't know he got motion sickness. He would _never_ hear the end of it.

Soon, silence had settled in the compartment. Gray was asleep, leaning against Laxus' shoulder at an awkward angle. _I swear if he starts drooling-_

"How did the Thunder Legion take it when you told them you were going with us?" Lucy asked, interrupting Laxus from his thoughts. He debated whether to tell her that Freed had thrown his arms around Laxus and sobbed waterfalls. _"No Laxus, don't leave us again!"_ Laxus cringed at the memory.

His arm felt funny, was it falling asleep? "Uh, pretty well." Just the opposite had happened. He was barely able to get out of his house, with Freed latching himself to his ankle. He had nearly dragged the rune mage half ways into the woods before he let up.

"Oh, well that's good. At least they don't just show up uninvited everywhere." She was definitely referring to her team. From what he had witnessed and heard, it made sense. In fact, he didn't think he had ever seen Lucy do a job and _not_ have someone from her team appear. Even if it was supposed to be a solo job, they found a way to show up. It sounded pretty annoying.

He would have kicked their asses by now, but Lucy was made of more patient material.

"That so?" He shrugged his shoulder to shake Gray off of him because damn it, he wasn't an armchair.

"Yeah, the very first day I got my apartment, these weirdoes had already invaded half my things-" Laxus scanned her face as Lucy talked animatedly. She was hot. But everyone knew that. Her features were timeless, something that would always be conventional. Lucy was more than her looks though, she was fiery, kind, fiercely loyal to her friends and the guild, and she was smart to boot. As far as he knew, he had never seen a guy hanging around. He glanced at the motion-sick Natsu, maybe there was something there? Natsu and Lucy spent a lot of time together, all day and most nights too, according the the guild gossip. He felt the unfamiliar edge of jealousy creep in. So what if flamebrain and Blondie were maybe screwing?

Still, it was hard to believe Natsu had _those_ sort of feelings, given how immature he was. He probably wouldn't even know what to do with a girl as gorgeous as Lucy. His eyes wandered over her body, taking it all in. His eyes followed her curves and settled at her chest. _Those clothes left nothing and yet so much to the imagination._

It took him a moment to realize she was asking him something. He ran his fingers through his hair, not noticing that Lucy was following the movement, her cheeks burning. "Huh?" He hoped she hadn't caught him ogling her body like some prepubescent boy.

Something akin to annoyance flashed across her face but it was gone as quickly as it came. "I said, why'd you really come with us?"

"I already told you. Gramps thought it was a good 'learning' experience," his fingers quoted at the air, "besides that I don't know his reasoning. Why?" He asked as an afterthought, "you don't like me?" He teased.

"No!" His eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Wait, that's not what I meant!" He nodded at her so she could continue. "I like you-it's just different you know?"

A smirk spread across his face. "So you _do_ like me." He thoroughly enjoyed watching Lucy squirm and blush. _Too easy._

"N-no." He leaned toward her and relished that she inched away from him.

"What's wrong Blondie? Do I make you uncomfortable?" It was totally worth it to get her riled up. He had to entertain himself somehow, especially since it wasn't likely he would be doing much on this trip. Come to think about it- was he even getting paid?

"I-I uh-" the train stopped. Laxus hadn't even noticed the train slowing down. His stomach celebrated. Sweet, sweet solid ground. Lucy abruptly stood up, knocking Natsu to the ground.

"Owwww Lucy! Why'd you do that for?" Natsu rubbed his head bump delicately. Blondie rolled her eyes.

"We're here get up." She shook Gray awake. "C'mon guys, we gotta get going." She tossed the ice mage his shirt. _Wait when did that happen?_

"Can't you give me a minute Lucy?" Natsu slurred from his spot on the ground, he was curled up in the fetal position. _Pussy._ If he could suck it up, why couldn't the firebrain do so as well?

"Aye, you don't have to be so mean, you meanie." The cat chimed in.

He watched her eye twitch. "It's your funeral." For some reason he expected Lucy to do something more-violent? She seemed ready to deck the pair of idiots but restrained herself. Already, she had much more self control and patience than he had.

* * *

 **Kunugi Train Station**

 **Fiore**

"Ah, so that's why you didn't put up much of a fight." Laxus and Gray stood in the platform and stared at the spot where the train previously was. Now, it was a little mark on the horizon. Maybe Natsu and Lucy _didn't_ have anything going on.

Lucy lifted her suitcase and sniffed. "I don't know what you're talking about." She could feel the both of them stare at her in disbelief. "Now, if we want to get good rooms we need to find a place to sleep before nightfall."

"C'mon Blondie, you know what we're talking about. You just left Natsu on the train."

She just sighed, "Your point Laxus? He wanted a moment, so I gave him a moment." She shrugged her shoulders. She didn't feel like putting up with his shenanigans right now. Happy was on the train, he would fly Natsu here sooner or later, preferably _after_ the train had gone around a few times.

"Damn." Was that _awe_ in Laxus's voice? The thought made Lucy feel tingly. "Remind me not to piss you off." _Oh he's beautiful. You can piss me off anytime..._

"Thanks." She giggled. "Let's go, Natsu will find us or we'll find him, either way. The sooner we get there, the sooner we can start on the job. Besides, I want a nice bath."

* * *

 **And that's chapter two. No worries, this is not a NaLu and it is most certainly a LaLu, I imagine Natsu and Lucy as the best of bros in this particular fic. Not to say I don't love a good NaLu, it's like my otp but i have a soft spot for crack ships and the less common pairings. Also Laxus is ridiculously hot.** **Yes I made up a town... There really aren't many towns described in Fairy Tail, especially with clear direction on how to get there.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Paper Moon**

 _ **Chapter Three**_

* * *

 **Moonside Inn**

 **Laurel Grove**

 **Fiore**

So how did Lucy's infatuation with the lightning dragon slayer start?

There was no real point in denying it, Lucy wasn't going to fight her feelings on this front, she had a crush on Laxus.

To be honest, Lucy had no idea how it even began or how her feelings changed; the old Lucy would have laughed and then probably died of mortification. _I wouldn't blame myself either, because really, Laxus? Out of all the eligible men, I pick the one with the worst personality._ Unfortunately, her brain hadn't received the memo or she wouldn't have the urge to jump Laxus at every opportunity. The guy was an asshole for Mavis's sake.

Laxus wasn't even in her list of potential boyfriends!

But somewhere along the way he had captured her interest.

If she had to pinpoint the _exact_ moment when she no longer saw Laxus as a cocky jerk and her nakama; but as someone she wanted to be with for better or for worse, it would have to be on Tenrou Island. Just when all hope seemed lost, Laxus in all his glory, arrived and kicked Hades's _ass._ It was as if time had stood still for Lucy; He had slowly stood up, his whole body crackling with lightning and _saved them_. Also, he had looked so _hot_ when he landed in the middle of the battle.

The Phantom Lord ordeal was instantly forgiven.

At first, it was pure admiration and respect. Lucy didn't fall for him _that_ quickly. (She did.) She now understood how the Thunder Legion could so devoutly follow someone like Laxus. He really was worth following to the ends of Earthland for. From there, it intensified. Now, Lucy wasn't one to get her head all wrapped up over a guy yet, with every smirk, snarky remark, or glance, she fell further and further down the rabbit hole.

They had gotten closer, they were nakama after all and the newly redeemed Laxus had made it a point to get to know his guild members. He was just as coarse and unrepentant as always, but he was almost _nice_. On a handful of nights Laxus actually invited Lucy to share a few drinks or play a round of pool, which Lucy discovered, she was terrible at. They didn't talk much during those times, but she found comfort in Laxus's presence.

As attractive as she found him, Lucy hadn't always been the way she was now. Her inability to speak or really be around him started after that cursed snow day, it was so cliche.

It was snowing when she accepted her feelings for the inconvenience they were.

* * *

 _ **Fairy Tail Guild**_

 _ **(Past)**_

 _Everyone in Fairy Tail took advantage of the rare snowfall. No jobs were accepted and the day was spent purely enjoying the snow. It had been a long time since Lucy had seen snow, the last time being on Mt. Hakobe. She shuddered at the awful near death experience. It put her off snow for a bit._

 _So instead of nearly dying on the death trap of a mountain, Lucy and Plue were cheerfully building a snowman. Kind of. The snow wasn't quite thick enough to mold into a compact circle and Lucy had never built a snowman before, never playing in the snow as a child. So it was a tad bit lopsided. The wood pieces were drooping down towards the ground. It didn't matter to her; she was having the time of her life._

 _Until Natsu declared a snow fight._

 _And of course all hell broke loose._

 _Fairy Tail was competitive by nature, so this was taken just as seriously. And it went overboard, as usual. The guild had split up into different teams, Gray changed the game when he started to infuse the snowballs with ice. Juvia melted the snowballs for her team, so they were pretty evenly matched._

 _Lucy didn't care, she was going to finish her snowman. She wrapped the scarf Aries had knit for her earlier around the snowman's neck. She even had to dodge a couple of snowballs flying in all directions. It was apparent that the two sides had quickly splintered off into several, smaller factions, siding with friends and a few solo mages._

 _She ignored the screams and yells in the background, ignored Max when he flew thirty feet back because he made the misfortune of nailing Erza in the face, and looked through the selection of rocks she had picked out for the eyes and mouth. She knew that Erza and Gray were dominating the fight from the screams of terror. There was no way Juvia would remain opposed to Gray._

" _What do you think Plue? Should we do black rocks or… black rocks?" Lucy held up the small handful to let the spirit chose. Plue wobbled. "Great choice!"_

" _Watch out Lucy!" Natsu yelled, sounding far closer than she thought. He nearly fell on her when he tripped on his own feet. If she hadn't shoved him to the side, her snowman would be history._

" _Hey! Stay away from my side! I'm not part of this stupid game. Go throw snowballs over there!"_

 _Natsu got up and melted the snow off him, "Don't be such a killjoy," he pouted. "Whoa, is that supposed to be a snowman?" She glared at him darkly. He got the idea and left her area alone._

" _Hmmph. Jerk almost ruined Mr. Frosty before I could finish building him." She mumbled and oh-so-carefully placed the rocks to form a smile. Plue handed her two big rocks for the eyes. "Thanks Plue," her tongue swiped at her bottom lip in concentration. "There, what'd think?" She took a step back to look at it in its entirety._

 _Plue wobbled again._

" _You noticed that too huh? It's missing something…" Her hand settled on her chin for a moment. Lightbulb! Lucy rummaged through her bag. "The nose! All snowmen need carrot noses. Luckily for us, I happened to bring one as a snack!"_

 _She pulled it out triumphantly. Before she could bestow Mr. Frosty with his new nose, she was body-checked to the ground by a massive figure. The wind was knocked out of her and she heard a sharp snap. Lucy moaned in sorrow and took a look at who almost killed her, she wanted to groan louder._ So typical.

" _Uh sorry Blondie. You okay? Did you break something?"_

 _Laxus brushed himself off. He extended his hand to help her up. He hoisted her up and placed his hands on her shoulders to steady her. "What the fuck." Lucy glared at Laxus's astounded face when he heard her phrase. She put her hands on her hip, ready to give the idiot a lashing. No one messed with Mr Frosty._

 _She gave him her famous death glare, one that could scare Natsu on the best of days. Then he was laughing. And laughing. And laughing._

 _Her ire increased. "What's so funny?"_

" _You just fucking said fuck!" He wiped the mirth from the corner of his eye._

" _So? You do that all the time!" She was indignant. "Stop laughing."_

" _Don't be that way Blondie. I've never heard you cuss, that's all. It was almost_ cute." _There was a lilt to his voice. He was mocking her._

 _Lucy ignored the cute comment and resisted sticking her tongue at him. "I didn't think you'd take part in this-" she gestured broadly, "'snowball' fight."_

" _Ah, I'm always up for a little friendly competition." Laxus winked at her. Her face was getting hot and she felt bashful suddenly._

 _Until she remembered her snowman._

 _And his nose._

" _Mr. Frosty!" She rushed over to the lumpy snowman. Laxus looked confused._

 _He let out a loud snort. "That is the ugliest snowman I have ever seen. Where's its nose?" Her blood boiled. Mr Frosty wasn't ugly! He was just… having a bad day, or a bad existence._

" _You broke it! When you slammed into me, I said I didn't want to join." She knew she was being over dramatic, but she_ had _spent the better part of the morning on it._

" _Sorry bout that." Laxus rubbed the back of his neck, upset women were_ not _his area of expertise._

 _Lucy sighed, it really wasn't a big deal and it was an accident. "It's fine, it's really not as big a deal as I make it, I just like to complain." Lucy flashed Laxus a reassuring smile. "Well, as fun as this has been, I'm going to plan my exit, Erza and Gray aren't letting up anytime soon and I'd rather not get dragged in." She decided she was thoroughly done with snow day. She was going to back to the guildhall and get a nice mug of hot chocolate._

 _Laxus chuckled at her. "You're something else." Lucy couldn't help the blush on her but she_ could _blame it on the cold. "If you wanna avoid Titania and icebrain, I'd go towards the west and around the back, The Thunder Legion built a fort there and won't give you any trouble. Plus, Erza and Gray won't even notice you."_

 _"Thanks Laxus." Lucy waved him goodbye before heading in that direction to the safety of the guild._

 _Soon other guild members slowly trickled in, warming up the atmosphere with the rhythmic chatting and tapping of silverware. Lucy thanked Mira for her drink and headed towards her usual table, choosing the window seat. She stirred her hot chocolate and absentmindedly looked_ _around. She scanned the room before looking out the window, something catching her eye._

 _When Lucy looked outside from the guild window, her eyes widened. Lucy saw her snowman, somehow it had been moved to face her window. It had been dressed, somehow had continued where she left off and as a final detail, a carrot as its nose._

 _She looked around, who could have done that? Her eyes wandered to the second floor as if drawn by some current; he winked at her and took a sip of his beer._

 _Laxus._

 _And that was that._

* * *

Lucy smiled at the memory and brushed her hair out. Of all the people on Earthland she just had to pick _him_. Laxus, insufferable asshole and a little pervy; though he had a sweet streak. Lucy figured it wasn't something he wanted to be well known. She sat on her bed, just about ready to head to sleep when she heard the knock at her door.

She sighed and moved to open it. Gray and Laxus stood on the other side. "Hey guys, what's up?"

Gray slipped past Lucy and into her hotel room. He quickly made himself comfortable on her bed. (Despite her protests. And how was he already naked?) "Natsu isn't back yet. I don't think he's found us yet. I'm sure he's fine, but we should probably look for him."

"You really think we need to look for loudmouth?" Laxus asked Gray.

The Ice Mage closed his eyes, "Natsu has a habit of destroying everything. It's better for everyone if we keep an eye on him. So you two should head out."

Laxus wasn't really convinced, but the less destruction occurred, the faster they could get this over with. "Alright, I'll bite. And just what are you going to be doing?"

"I'm going to wait for Natsu here. He might show up."

* * *

 **Laurel Grove Town**

 **Fiore**

It was freezing. In perspective, Lucy should have grabbed a jacket instead of walking out in shorts and a tank. She shivered quietly again. "You should have brought a jacket."

She wrapped her arms around herself in a futile attempt to stay warm. "Yeah, thanks for reminding me, I always plan on searching for idiot wizards and their stupid cats in the middle of the night." it was cold enough outside that her breaths were visible. "Why do we send the wizard who _doesn't_ have ice powers outside, while the one who does, stays inside nice and toasty."

Yeah she was bitter.

Laxus was probably all nice and warm in his huge jacket. She was ready to give up on Natsu. He would find them. There was no real need to search for him, he could hold his own in every situation and if he destroyed half the town, so be it. This is what she got for being petty, karma wasn't having any of it.

She grumbled some more until she felt something heavy being placed on her shoulders. It stopped her thoughts of wringing Natsu's neck cold. _It couldn't be._

She looked over at Laxus, to her surprise he was looking away from her, and if she wasn't seeing things, there was a blush across his cheeks. Her cheeks hot, she tugged the jacket tighter around her. "Thank you."

Laxus's hands were down his pocket, "Don't mention it, I was getting tired of you shivering and complaining." Lucy looked down at her shoes and smiled.

"Even so, thank you." Comfortable, if a bit awkward, silence fell between them. Neither one of them really knew what to say.

A few minutes of walking around together silently passed. Lucy began to wonder when it would be a good time to call it quits and head back to the hotel, as warm as Laxus's jacket was, it was very long and _heavy._ She glanced over at said man, he was staring straight ahead with his hands tucked into his pockets. _How was he not cold?-_ Was it her or were the sleeves too long? They were brushing against the ground, she could easily trip. That _was not going to happen._ She kicked a little more vigorously to avoid tripping because that would be embarrassi- and she did just that.

She internally panicked and flailed her arms around at _anything_ that would brace her fall.

Unfortunately that was Laxus. Lucy had gotten grip of his t-shirt's collar and pulled hard. He was caught unaware and was forced down to the ground. Lucy frowned in pain, not only had she landed on the cold, hard ground, Laxus had fallen on half of her.

She was going to bruise so badly.

It took Laxus a minute to realize that he was crushing her. He was more concerned on how she had managed to catch him off guard and how soft she was. Then she let out a groan of pain and he quickly came to his senses and scampered up to his feet and pulled her up. It was then when Lucy noticed how close they were, she merely would have to step forward on her toes and their noses would touch.

Twin blushes spread across both blondes. Lucy's lips parted slightly and swiped her tongue against her bottom lip out of sheer nerves. Laxus's pupils darkened as his eyes followed the movement. Her eyes widened and her heartbeat sped up. I- _is he going to kiss me? Is it just me or is he getting closer?_

She closed her eyes in anticipation. She knew she had a thing for Laxus, but she didn't know the extent of his feelings, what if he was only interested in _other_ things but not her? To her disappointment, Laxus didn't kiss her. In fact, he lifted his head and stepped away from her. "Uh, we should get going."

Lucy felt her jaw drop and didn't nothing to hide the fact, her face reflected disappointment and she knew Laxus could see it. _That was it?_ She couldn't help but feel insult to injury, he avoided eye contact with her. "R-right. We should head back, Natsu is probably back at the hotel and it's already late and we need to conserve our energy for tomorrow." She was rambling and she knew it, anything to stop follow up conversation. Laxus was very confrontational and she did _not_ want him to confront her. "In fact, I'm all warm now, so here's your jacket thanks for that." She thrust the thick coat back to Laxus.

"Lucy-"

"Oh would you look at the time? I gotta run!" Before he could blink, she had turned on her heel and ran away, quickly becoming a small dot until he lost sight of her.

"What the fucking hell was that?" Was everyone on Natsu's team a _complete and utter_ weirdo? Gray stripped at any given time, Erza was insane, Natsu was well, Natsu. Laxus had thought Lucy was the normal one. But clearly she was just as crazy.

He made his way back to the hotel, thinking about what had just happened. He had almost kissed her, that's what. He always knew she was hot and commented on it pretty often in the past. He didn't think it was a big deal, but seeing her deer-stuck-in-headlights style made him rethink that it was to her.

Laxus wasn't going to fool himself, he was no good in relationships and Lucy was relationship material. He narrowed his eyes, _did she have a thing for him?_ By the looks of it she might. It was odd too, it was a recent development, seeing her cheeks red and all. Laxus knew that they had a flirty undertone in their past conversations and they got along for the most part. He wasn't going to deny his small soft spot for the celestial mage.

Laxus shook his head.

Tough shit. As much as he wanted to kiss her, he couldn't give her what she wanted, he simply didn't _want_ to. Even if he did, dating was messy, especially since they were in the same guild. He shivered just thinking about all the gossip and how insufferable Mira and the old man would be. That, and her crazy team would be hell bent on saving her honor. It would be a shame to have to destroy them. The Thunder Legion would seriously kick ass and Gramps would not be pleased if the guild turned into a bloodbath again.

Best to avoid all that.

 _Yeah, I don't want Lucy like that, even if she is kind of amazing and kind and every time I see her my stomach twists._

Laxus wanted to avoid hurting Blondie's feelings, she was genuinely a good person, better than him for sure. Laxus swung open the hotel's door with a loud slam. He gave death glares to the employees at the hotel counter, they got the memo and left him alone.

He had an Ice mage to hunt after all.

He arrived at Gray's room and relentlessly began pounding on the door, if he was asleep, all the better, the little shit deserved a rude awakening. "Hey Dipshit, did you find the other dumbass?" He said when the ice mage finally opened the door.

A fearful look spread across Gray' face and he leaned against the door frame. "Laxus, where were you?" He was far too casual.

His eye twitched. _Is he brain dead too?_ "I was looking for Natsu like _you said."_

"Yeah, sorry bout that." Gray rubbed his neck somewhat nervously.

"Sorry _for what?" Just spit it out already._

"Well, funny story, Natsu was in his room the whole time."

He was going to have an aneurysm. "What was that?" His voice was dangerously low. He could hear Gray gulp.

"Turns out Happy brought him over. Should've checked first huh?"

"You're telling me," he rubbed his head he could feel the headache coming on. "Lucy and I went searching for two hours and fire breath was in his room this whole time?"

Gray started backing up nervously, he lifted his hands in peace. "Please don't kill me."

Laxus chuckled. "No, you're just going to wish for death."


	4. Chapter 4

**Paper Moon**

 _ **Chapter Four**_

* * *

 **Moonside Inn**

 **Laurel Grove**

 **Fiore**

Lucy had arrived back to the inn much sooner than Laxus. After she broke out in a sprint, she had ran to the inn and quickly found Gray eating a sandwich in the lobby. "I give up! Looking for Natsu is too hard. He'll find his way here eventually, his damn nose could sniff out anything." She threw her hands up in the air and dared the ice mage to challenge her reasoning. "It's too cold for this."

To her surprise he nodded. "Lucy, that's fine, Natsu's here."

 _Oh yes, I don't have to go outside again!_ "Seriously? That's great, when did he get here?" Lucy was relieved that nothing bad had happened to Natsu, her conscience was clear now. It was a plus that she didn't have to trample around in the cold any longer, especially with Laxus.

There was something guilty in Gray's face and Lucy quirked an eyebrow. "Uh no, he's been here the whole time."

 _I wonder if Natsu- No fucking way. Wait, I must have heard wrong, funny, it sounded like Gray said Natsu was here the whole time, but that's not right. I didn't run around outside for nothing, right?_ "He was here the whole time? Is that what you said just now?" Her eye twitched violently and even to her, her voice was shrill.

"Yeah he was in the other room we booked for him. Not sure why he didn't tell us." Gray shrugged as if he had not a single care in the world. Which she presumed came from the fact that _he_ hadn't actually done _anything._ _Oh that's it. Someone is dying tonight. Wonder if Laxus will help me get rid of the body...Of course he will, especially once he finds out that Natsu was in his room the whole time._

Lucy Heartfilia was on a mission. She was going to _murder_ a certain fire dragon slayer. She shoved past Gray roughly, ignoring his protesting _hey!_ she would get back at him later after the beat down. What was _wrong_ with him? Why couldn't Natsu just _tell_ someone where he was so they didn't spend half the night in the cold searching for the ingrate. All _this_ could have been avoided if Natsu wasn't so dense!

Ugh, just the thought of what might have happened tinged her cheeks with embarrassment. How could she have read the moment so wrong? It was best not to think about how Laxus's jacket had the best scent, how close they were, and how he had pulled away and avoided her gaze. Especially how she had felt when he hadn't kissed her.

It was disappointment, something she desperately avoided. It was an emotion she avoided like the plague, knowing it all too well in her childhood. Honestly, all she was doing was really over thinking things. She couldn't let little things like this bother her any longer. Lucy wanted to cringe over her own thought process. Laxus and her were _friends._ It would be wrong to expect anything more. And really, she had better things to do. Like slam the door on Natsu's toes.

She arrived at his room number and barged in without knocking, ready to give him the earful of his lifetime. He really was inconsiderate-she could have caught her death outside and the whole exploring the city was really just excessive. She could have already been in bed and asleep. All anger left her as soon as she saw the dragon slayer. He was curled up on his bed, the few rides he had taken on the train must have really taken a toll on him because he didn't even look up at the door being slammed. She carefully approached the bed. "Hey Natsu, you okay?" _No, no, no! Do not show weakness!_

The dragon slayer lifted his head, his face still rather green, "oh hey Lucy, what's up? Why aren't you asleep?" _I'm going to ignore that last little bit. What a stupid question. AS if he didn't know he's the reason I'm not all cozy in bed._

Her eyebrows furrowed, dammit, she was going to cave. "I'm sorry for leaving you on the train. It was wrong of me and I know how you get motion sick."

"No worries Lu, I can't stay mad at you." Her heart swelled a bit. "Now if only I wasn't still sick, I'm _starving." He probably missed dinner. Poor guy._

Lucy perched herself on the end of his bed. "What do you think is in store for us tomorrow? I've never been to Laurel Grove, it's my first time here."

Natsu sat up, careful to not wake Happy, who was nestled by his side. "I've never been here either, unless you count the time I walked past it on job. Well if we're meeting with the client boss I'm sure we can get more info. Then we find the mushroom and we eat it!" She sweat-dropped until she realized he wasn't kidding.

"WE CAN'T EAT IT!" How did Natsu get by on only thinking about his stomach?

"Aww, why not? It's super rare so I'm sure it'll be tasty."

"You can't eat it and that's final. I need the money for rent!"

Natsu yawned, "borrrrrinnnggg. You always need rent money."

"Hey watch it bub, if I don't pay rent you can't break into my house anymore because I won't have one, get it?"

"Yeah, yeah." He waved off her concerns. Lucy smiled to herself. He really was just like a kid. _I can't stay mad at him. Even though I did nearly die from the cold. Next time, Gray is on Natsu duty._

"Natsu?"

"Yeah?" He sounded sleepy.

"Why didn't you tell anyone you were here?"

"Watcha talking about Lucy… I told- _yawn-_ Gray I was here."

 _What was that? He told Gray? But-_ "What do you mean you told Gra-" She turned and saw Natsu was already asleep.

She got up from his bed and made it to her room. They had a long day ahead of them. And a lot to think about. Did Gray forget to tell them that Natsu was back?

* * *

 **Calla Lily Resort & Amusement Park**

 **Fiore**

Erza clenched the sword on her hip in anticipation. Her eyes scanned the building ahead of her, searching for any signs of evil but there didn't seem to be any. In fact the giggles and screams were merely from the massive water slide that arched over the entrance.

It certainly _looked_ harmless. Why else would the master send her over? It mattered not, Master Makarov would never lead her astray, she knew that much. She approached the young clerk at the help desk, "excuse me, I'm here for the job. You see, I'm from Fairy Tail." She couldn't help the pride she felt and the slight puff of her chest at mentioning her beloved guild. It happened every time she met a client. There was a certain _feeling_ being associated with such a wonderful guild.

The clerk crumpled her eyebrows in confusion. "Job? F-fairy Tail?"

Erza raised her eyebrows. Were the employees here always this incompetent? "Yes, your resort put out a job request. I accepted." At the girl's blank expression she continued, feeling her patience running thin, "I'm sure if you merely point me to the direction of your owner we could sort this all out."

"Ah, you see that's impossible. We didn't put out a job request." The girl pushed her glasses up primly, "and we would never hire Fairy Tail to do any jobs for us. They're simply too destructive."

Had Erza read the flyer incorrectly? No Master had told her the address and she had repeated it to him three times! Oh no, what if he was wrong? But that was impossible, Master Makarov was _never_ wrong. She could feel the embarrassment creep up on her. "Oh. Many apologies then, I'll be on my way." No sooner had she turned around, she bumped into a warm, hard body.

She felt more embarrassment. Was this day going to be this trying? "I'm truly sorry, I didn't realize anyone was behind me-"

"Erza?" Her eyes moved up and widened in shock. Erza's heart skipped a beat then pounded even faster. Could it be?

"Jellal?!"

" _Erza?!"_

" _What are you doing here?"_

* * *

 **Outskirts of Laurel Grove**

 **Fiore**

Lucy groaned deeply. Her feet were killing her and she hadn't seen a single frickin' mushroom in _hours._

After a very uneventful morning, beside the fact that Gray looked a bit…crispy? She still hadn't had a chance to ask Gray about what Natsu told her. She wanted to know why Gray lied about Natsu not telling him when he arrived. Natsu never lied to her and while she didn't want to think Gray lied, something just didn't add up. Maybe Natsu forgot to actually tell Gray and only thought it? Lucy didn't think it prudent to mention it to Laxus. He didn't seem very cheerful. Especially considering how he had a particularly strong electrical current. But the point was that after they left the inn, they had trekked nearly seven miles outside of town to find the isolated mansion. And boy, was it isolated.

The mansion just looked abandoned. _I can't believe how lazy this guy is. The mushroom is supposedly in the surrounding forest but he didn't want to look for it himself! But, this job_ is paying _my rent._

Honestly, this job was the most unprepared, unprofessional, and the most boring job she had ever been on. Lucy would rather fight whatever monster Natsu provoked than this stupid thing.

And where was Natsu and the rest of her team? Well they had all split up in different directions. They were all understandably irritated and eager to start the job until they arrived to the front door only to find _another_ flyer taped on it.

Lucy had ripped it from the door and started reading out loud- "Many regrets but the master of the house is very ill and cannot receive any visitors… Fairy Tail mages are to find the mushroom called Paper Moon in the outskirts of the surrounding forest area. Further instructions are on back page-" Unsurprisingly, the guys had all went into a rant.

"So we don't even get to meet the client?"

"That's all the instruction we get? Seriously"

"We're supposed to find a stupid plant?" Natsu asked and Lucy started at him in bewilderment. How had he forgotten the point of the job already? They hadn't even started!

"Whatever." Laxus narrowed his eyes and scanned the surrounding forest area warily. "The best way to find this mushroom is to split up, I say we each take one direction and start looking."

"Hey who died and made you leader? Aren't you just here to supervise?" Natsu exclaimed, ignoring the way Laxus's jaw tightened in annoyance.

He instantly went on the defensive, "oh yeah? And you got a better plan flame-brain? Or are you just gonna run your mouth like always?"

He enjoyed watching Natsu's eye twitch. "That's it! I'm gonna kick your ass, get ready,"

"Natsu stop!" Gray stood between the two dragon slayers. "We're on a job if you hadn't noticed. So I suggest you both cut it out and get to work."

Lucy took the moment to talk. "I agree with Laxus. His plan is the most direct and the best choice we have. Besides, this forest isn't more than around 40 miles around." She ignored Natsu's expression of betrayal. "Alright, I'm going North."

Gray chose South, Natsu took West and Laxus went East. "We all meet up here at sundown."

"Agreed."

So Lucy started walking in her direction, hand at the ready by her keys.

And now here she was walking through a creepy and dark forest. There wasn't any real details besides a brief description of the mushroom. She fidgeted nervously. There wasn't any monsters lurking here was there? What if there was and all they ate were young cute girls like herself? She could be someone's lunch! Her pace quickened and she only thought one thing.

 _We better find that stupid mushroom soon._

* * *

 **I'm sorry this is so late, I had the hardest time with this chapter, i just couldn't find the inspiration or the satisfaction. I still greatly dislike the chapter but it's really all a filler and there's a bit of confusion but fret not, all will be revealed.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Paper Moon**

 _ **Chapter Five**_

* * *

 **Laurel Grove Forest**

 **Fiore**

"I'm so _over_ this stupid forest." Lucy groaned and debated whether to summon Horologium or not. She wanted to conserve her magical energy just in case something sinister popped up but she _really_ didn't want to walk anymore. It was getting boring. She wasn't expecting a very exciting job, they were looking for a mushroom after all- but she hoped for something more substantial than just some walking. It left her alone with too many of her thoughts.

She had been heading in the same direction for what seemed like hours and what did she have to show for it? Sore feet. She soon had realized how utterly _dumb_ the whole job was. How the hell were they going to find a singular mushroom that may or may not be mythical? "I really should have thought this job through before I took it. Ugh, this is what I get for getting greedy."

And now her stomach was rumbling. Lucy reached into her bag and realized she had left her granola bars at the inn. Great. Just perfect. Now she was going to be hungry _and_ tired. Lucy was at the point where she saw no need in continuing her suffering and summoned her clock spirit. If she was going to be both hungry and tired she might as well eliminate one of those two. Thanking him profusely, she climbed in and shut the door, allowing Horologium to be her legs for now.

 _See? I should have just done this in the beginning. Why do I always make things difficult for myself? No one appreciates me enough, I work so hard and for what? A pauper's pittance and a team that just invites themselves into my most personal life-_

Lucy stopped in her inner soliloquy to crane her ears. She waited a bit more and heard an animal screeching in the distance. She was unaware of the kind of animal, but it sounded not too far from her. She made a mental note to not travel towards that direction. The screeching kept up for a bit before Lucy saw outlines of lighting through the trees. _Seems like Laxus is busy._

 _I wonder how Gray and Natsu are doing. With our luck they probably ran into each other and are in the middle of killing each other._ Lucy shrugged her shoulders. No point in worrying about them, she still had to survive this awful place. Lucy took in the surroundings, the foliage was getting thicker here, the sun not nearly as bright. It was a sign of her heading in the right direction, but it also meant she was getting deeper in this godforsaken forest.

All too soon she heard, "Many apologies my dear Princess, but I must be going now. I have an appointment with Crux."

"Hey!" But he was gone in a poof and Lucy landed on the ground. She grumbled, standing and dusting her clothes off "Typical. Just when I get all cozy too." She steeled herself and kept walking. Who knew celestial spirits were so unreliable? It must be just hers. Lucy let out a loud groan that echoed through the forest. She grabbed her key ring, ready to summon Pyxis when she heard the leaves rustle behind her.

Lucy tensed and turned around slowly, her mind set on summoning one of her Zodiacs now. Her face was met with the cutest little boar she had _ever_ seen in her life. Instantly, she dropped her guard and squealed. "Oh hey little guy! I don't suppose you know where to find paper moon do you? My teammates are looking for it and we'd be very glad to find it." She slowly stuck her hand out as if to pet it and reeled her hand back when it snapped its mouth at her. "Hey! That's not nice-" the boar growled menacingly and kicked at the ground.

Lucy nervously backed away slowly. "It's okay Mr. Boar uh, nice piggy- AAHHHH!" She screamed and started running when the boar charged at her. "WHAT KIND OF FOREST IS THIS?" It would have been a comical sight: a tiny little boar chasing around a full fledged wizard. If only he wasn't set on eating her.

She narrowly avoided running into trees and most of the branches, except for one, that stung against her cheek.

Lucy hesitantly looked back only to see the boar still after her. _This thing isn't letting up! Wait, why am I not fighting it? Taurus could_ easily _scare the crap out of this little creep._ She pivoted in her heel to summon her faithful zodiac when she felt her body start tilting backwards. Lucy's eyes widened when she realized the ground beneath her was crumbling. She had in her haste, stood on the edge of a ravine, the ground was steep beneath her, maybe twenty feet.

Lucy had a moment where she froze,not sure what to do except let the inevitable happen. "Oh fuck." She swore the boar had a satisfied smile as she tumbled down the hill.

It hurt. As she rolled down, not only was she getting dizzy, leaves and twigs were snapping and tangling into her. She tried very hard to avoid the trees, swerving just in time. "Omph!" She started to gain speed the longer she spent rolling. Maybe she underestimated the height of the drop. She was scared to open her eyes, fearful of anything getting in her eyes.

Amazingly, she could hear someone or something rustling below her and she yelled out in warning. " _Watch out!_ " She could only pray they were wise enough to get out of her way. She hit what she was sure was a tree because of the sheer force and the lack of air in her chest as she slammed against it. Though, it wasn't nearly as hard as a tree, so maybe a strong bush?

She felt all the air knocked out of her body. "Ugh." Lucy rubbed her eyes. Yep, this was going to be sore in the morning. Everything would be sore tomorrow.

"What the fuck happened to you Blondie?" Of course, if there was anyone or anything she could have come across, she meets the one wizard he's half in love with, because how else would the world work? Certainly not fairly. She glared up at Laxus.

"I rolled down a hill. What else?" She tried to appear menacingly but that was hard to do when she was literally on her back looking up at him.

He rolled his eyes at her, "no shit. What I want to know is how this all happened."

Her cheeks reddened. He was going to hold this over her head for days. "I err- may or may not have ran away from this uh-huge creature and you know rolled down when I was trying to get away."

"Really?" He pulled her up and she noticed for the first time all the scratches on his face.

"What happened to _you_?"

He looked embarrassed. "Nothing. Forget it."

She didn't press the matter because he hadn't at her obvious lie. But she did have a sneaking suspicion that the screeching she heard earlier was an animal attacking Laxus. By the scratchings on his face, the little creature had gotten the best of Laxus. "Any luck?"

He snorted. "On what? Finding a singular mushroom with no information or any idea of what it looks like or a map of this godforsaken forest?"

"Me either," she shook her head, "do you think Natsu or Gray have had a better time?"

"Doubtful. If Natsu hasn't burnt down the forest by now, he will. And that icicle has a better chance warding off Juvia then finding this damn mushroom."

"Hmm." She didn't know when they started walking together, but she glanced at his profile. Laxus did care, if he didn't, she doubted she would have developed feelings for him.

"A picture would last longer you know."

He scared the life out of her. "Huh?"

"You were staring."

She was on fire. "N-no I was-"

"It's fine. I know I'm good looking." Oh he was insufferable! How could she ever even think about wanting a relationship with him? He noticed her tense up and eased up on her. "Calm down Blondie. I was only joking. It sure is easy to get a reaction from you."

She settled for glaring at him, "you are so-eep!" He suddenly clamped his hand over her mouth and shushed her over her protests.

"You hear that?" Lucy quieted and heard the rustling in the bushes around them. Laxus got in a defensive stance and stood in front of Lucy. His hands had electricity forming, ready to attack.

The rustling got louder and Lucy's adrenaline spiked up again. It was a slow moment and then-

 _It was the fucking boar_.

Her mouth swung open. How had it found her? Instead of attacking, the boar let out a low squeal. It seemed to like Laxus. Well, that was what Lucy could decipher by the way it squealed happily at being picked up by the giant. It was even cuter now! Laxus seemed to disagree. "A pig?" He was unimpressed. He held it arms length away from his face. "C'mon Lucy. It's only a little animal."

"Uh, I wouldn't do that if I was you." Apparently it didn't like to be compared with a pig because it chomped down on Laxus's arm. He swore loudly and creatively. His magic pulsed through his body and he gave the creature a little shock.

"Laxus!"

He gave her an incredulous look, "what? This fucker just tried to eat me!" He dropped the boar to the ground and kept walking as if nothing happened. "What kind of shitty place is this." He mumbled under his breath.

* * *

Laxus was really starting to think this whole job was complete bullshit. First, they hadn't met the client, then they all marched off in separate directions in a pesky forest, he had been humiliated by a goddamn squirrel that decided to attack and scratch him up, and now this annoying little _monster_ had the nerve to bite him.

Not to mention the fact that Lucy had knocked into him at a rapid speed that nearly flattened him. (But that was a sort of plus in his book)

And he was still no closer to finding that mushroom. He wondered when his role of supervisor changed to an active member in this job. No respect whatsoever.

He sincerely hoped Natsu and Gray weren't faring any better. That stripper had refused to explain his reasoning about earlier and honestly, Laxus couldn't give less of a shit. Whatever got the ice mage off his rocks was no business to Laxus.

So they were walking in silence, he was unsure if they were even _looking_ at this point. He felt like Lucy wanted to give up too. It was too bad it was still warm outside, he couldn't watch her shiver and give her his jacket. Damn. She really was cute in it.

"Laxus?"

"Hmm?" He stared ahead absently.

"What's your favorite color?" It was an abrupt question that he was truly not expecting. It was almost childish in the sense that it wasn't a very deep question. In other words, it was a stupid question.

He frowned. Laxus never really entertained the idea of favorite colors. It all seemed stupid to have a preference on colors of all things. But… he was partial to purple, not that anyone really knew. "I don't have one."

She obviously wasn't taking that as an answer. "Don't be ridiculous, everyone has a favorite color! Isn't there one you like a little bit better than the others?"

"Ah, I guess purple would be it?"

It made sense. Laxus was very good at not giving a shit especially over trivial things. He didn't really seem to _care_ about what he wore but he did wear a little bit more purple than any color. And it suited him. "That's a pretty color." Though Laxus told himself he didn't care about about anything, Lucy's obvious approval warmed him, making him want to seek it out.

He couldn't really say anything more because out of the sky, an eagle swooped down and landed right onto Lucy's head. He watched her face contort as she let out a scream.

"LAXUS GET IT OFF!" She flapped her arms wildly. The eagle's sharp talons were curled over her head as it tried to nestle in deeper. He couldn't control his laugh and belted out loudly. After watching her for a few seconds he went over to pull the bird off, his laughter was cut short when the bird tried to attack his face.

What the hell? He threw it off and watched it fly off. "Do you know why Mother Nature is attacking us?"

He watched the blonde scowl and rub her face harshly. "I don't know and I don't care. All I know is this is a waste of time!" Laxus blinked. He had never seen Lucy lose it, according to Natsu, she went psycho on the daily but he had never witnessed it first hand. "We need to meet the client! If he's sick-I'll get sick too, I don't care but we can't keep walking in circles with no idea!"

It was incredibly hot.

His pants tightened a bit but before he could do anything, there was a loud explosion on the other side of the forest. Lucy threw her hands in the air, "what now?"

"It's probably Natsu fighting something. Most likely Gray." Laxus hoped it was the latter. Even after shocking the little shit to the guild and back, the popsicle refused to say anything about last night. It really put a chip in his ego.

Like he had said last night, something smelled fishy.

"Of course. Let's go Laxus." He raised an eyebrow.

"Oh? The cheerleader is giving me orders now?" He teased, hoping to provoke her.

It backfired when she only glared at him. "Laxus, did you want to keep walking in circles like a dumbass or did you want to knock down the door and complete this job?" Damn. Laxus liked bossy Lucy, a lot. It was amazing to see how passionate the blonde was.

He watched her summon one of her weird spirits, this little duck thing, and start walking in the direction it pointed her in. Personally, Laxus wouldn't take direction from a deformed duck but if he got to watch Lucy walk away, swishing her hips with each step, then follow he would.

The view was worth it.


	6. Chapter 6

**Paper Moon**

 _ **Chapter Six**_

* * *

 **Laurel Grove Forest**

 **Laurel Grove**

 **Fiore**

The sun was starting to set under the dense canopy of trees, sharpening the shadows already on the surrounding woods. It was making it a harder to distinguish what was real and what was right in front of their faces. Shadows seemed to jump tree to tree, seemingly following the two mages. As menacing the forest appeared, it was nothing to the irritation Lucy and Laxus felt.

 _Easy, right. That's what I said about the job before we took it. If only I had known..._ Lucy huffed.

All they had to do was find a stupid mushroom and now they were heading back, job abandoned for all intent and purposes. Lucy, she _really_ didn't want to get stuck in a creepy and dark forest. That, and her feet were just about ready to fall off. She wasn't sure exactly how much they had walked, but it was a lot. Seeing as she had already summoned Horologium- _what a waste, if I had known I'd being walking this long I would have waited to use him!_ \- she was left with no other options than to continue on her own two feet.

On the bright side, she got to be near Laxus. Though, she had a sneaking suspicion that he had no sense of direction whatsoever. Even though they were simply exiting the woods, Laxus didn't really seem to know which way was up. She had to often tell him he was going the wrong way and Pyxis would quack when he trailed too off course, which was every fifteen minutes or so.

However, walking with Laxus was actually quite vigorous. The man was a giant and he took huge steps, which was fine and all but it left Lucy in the back often having to resort to jogging in order to not be left behind. Secretly, Lucy felt he himself had no idea of where they were heading or how much farther the house was. Pyxis had become a semi-permanent member as he would appear and give a sharp shrill only when they veered off track, in order to conserve her magical energy. Lucy glanced up and rolled her eyes at Laxus's back, there he went, leaving Lucy behind again. "Laxus!" She said aggregated and sharply.

Laxus turned around, eyebrow raised in rebellion and was surprised at what he saw, Lucy was slightly bent over clutching her knees and panting a bit. He furrowed his eyebrows, had she always been this behind? Laxus could have sworn that she was besides him. It was a bit surreal because the Thunder Legion had no problem keeping up so he tended to forget others didn't have the endurance he was used to. He personally felt just fine. The sun setting was definitely putting a dash on his hopes. The plan was to get to back to the mansion by sundown, looking at the blonde. He frowned, they weren't making nearly enough progress as he usually would expect by now. "What's up Blondie?"

Laxus chuckled when she shot him a glare, "I'm tired and you take humongous steps. I have no problem walking but I can only go so far and I'm falling behind," _boy can she talk_ ,"and not to mention that you have no sense of directio-Laxus what are you doing?" In the middle of her rant/scolding Laxus had suddenly stepped close to her, made eye contact, and then turned on his back and sank to his knees.

Lucy nearly forgot that this was real, while she certainly _dreamed_ about having Laxus on his knees in front of her- she blushed just thinking that- those were merely dreams and this was most certainly not a dream. She was quiet for probably far too long because Laxus turned his head to glance over his shoulder and looked expectantly at the celestial mage. At her hesitation he spoke, "what does it look like I'm doing? Get on."

Lucy stared at him wide eyed and nearly swayed in her spot. Instead of standing like she half-hoped he stayed, waiting. Lucy let out a little scoff and shook her head, unbelieving, "Laxus, you don't seriously expect me to climb on your back."

She could feel him roll his eyes. "Yeah I do. You were complaining about walking, you were really behind, and I'm trying to get out of this place before the sun sets." He paused and then added as an afterthought, "and you ride fire-brain all the time." He smirked wickedly at her blush and her spluttering. He sighed again when she didn't move, "do I need to hoist you over my shoulder and hold you the whole way?" As pleasant as the thought was, he seriously doubted Blondie would go for it.

Lucy struggled for words before conceding. The nerve! She might as well take advantage of the fact that he was offering her a way out of walking. He was right, Natsu gave her a piggyback ride whenever she demanded it. The only problem was that she didn't want to make-out with Natsu and she did with Laxus. She bit her lip in a final protest but saw reason. "You win." She placed her hands gingerly on his shoulders and tried not to shiver when she felt shocks up and down her spine. "Thanks." She awkwardly hopped onto his back and resisted freaking out about how tall he was. Having her center of gravity thrown off and being up higher than before was really going to mess with her head.

He made sure she was settled before he started walking. The silence the settled between them was a bit awkward Lucy decided. She was, after all on the man. "Laxus?" He grunted in response, "what do you make of this job anyways?"

Lucy feared she pissed him off when he didn't answer. The last thing she needed was to get fried today. "Honestly?" She nodded before she realized he couldn't actually see her. "I think this is a bunch of bullshit. I mean, what kind of job sends you off to explore a forest to find a mushroom that may or may not exist with no actual detail on said mushroom, no interaction between the the client or us, and attacks from fucking woodland animals?"

"Well-"

"Not to mention we don't even have a map of this forest. Whatever he's paying, it isn't enough. Not for all this hassle."

"Do you think we're in trouble?"

Laxus was quiet before sighing, "No, I don't think we're in any real danger."

"okay, in that case, what if he's saving lives with the paper moon?"

Lucy could hear the contempt in Laxus's tone. The ground started to get bumpy and she dug her hands tighter on his shoulders. Laxus also tightened his grip on her thighs, hands moving slightly higher, a fact Lucy was all too aware of. "Right…Our shady client is saving lives with a fungus." It was hilarious to hear how disgusted he was.

She felt a smile grow on her face. "Don't dismiss that thought so quickly, you never know what powers the mystical and elusive paper moon carries."

There was a loud snort and Laxus adjusted his grip on Lucy's legs. "Fat chance. I'm sure it makes me shit gold too." For some reason, maybe it was the dry way he said it or just the whole situation was getting to her, but Lucy burst out in uncontrollable laughter.

She nearly fell off trying to hold her sides if not for Laxus's reflexes. "Whoa, careful Blondie," he did a bit of a jolt that boosted her closer to him, pressed firmly against Laxus's back. His hands had gone up even higher, crumpling her skirt on the outsides of her upper leg, leaving a trail of goosebumps on the skin traveled. Lucy stopped breathing, her body felt taut as she waited for Laxus to do something.

Laxus realized Lucy had gone deathly quiet. He adjusted his grip on her thighs and was pleasantly surprised about the shiver that went through her body. Interesting. He looked down and noticed how high his hands were on her body. He felt a rush of heat blossom across his face, "sorry." Laxus's voice was gruff as he tried to cover up his embarrassment.

Sure he liked women and he definitely wasn't a blushing virgin, but he was still rather shy about those matters. Lucy being his guild mate was even worse-he would surely be pulverized if word got round that he manhandled the golden girl. (Well, they could try) With that in mind, he moved his hands back down to a more appropriate height. His embarrassment however, did not stop him from relishing in the nearly silent whine the blonde emitted at the loss of contact.

After a while, Laxus took one look at the darkening sky and made his decision. He stopped in his tracks and released his hold on Lucy. "Hop off Blondie." He could almost _smell_ her confusion but she followed and gracefully slid down just perfectly against him.

Lucy picked a non-existent piece of lint off her skirt and smoothed it down. "Why'd we stop? Is everything okay?" _Please don't tell me I was too heavy! I don't really wanna hear that right now…_

"Relax. Now help me build a fire." Laxus placed his jacket on a nearby tree trunk. When Lucy failed to move, he snapped his fingers to catch her attention. "You still here?"

"Why do we need to build a fire?" She scowled when he gave her a long-suffering expression followed by a deep sigh as if he couldn't believe she didn't already know what he was thinking. It wasn't like Laxus was a talker, he stayed to himself and that included his thoughts and plans.

"We aren't going to make it back before sundown, at least not at the pace we were going. I'm not familiar with this forest so I didn't want to risk getting lost. Now help me build this fire unless you want to freeze to death tonight." Great, he explained a lot without explaining anything. But Lucy figured that he meant they were camping overnight.

She could definitely one-up him. So she did.

"Okay." Laxus watched her not move and rolled his eyes, "open gate of the Maiden!" It took everything in him not to scream a bit when a pink-haired girl in a maid's uniform appeared in front of them. He nearly forgot how versatile Lucy's magic was.

"How can I serve you princess?" He couldn't help himself and snorted loud enough that Lucy fixed him a deadly glare.

"Something funny?" She then turned to Virgo. "Virgo I need you to build us a fire please."

The celestial spirits nodded, and got to work. Within thirty seconds, there was a roaring fire, and she had set up the mini campsite. Virgo had played down two sleeping bags near the fire with some basic food supplies. "would that be all princess?"

"You did a great job Virgo!" Her spirit smiled eagerly.

"Punishment tim-?" A bright light encased the spirit and she vanished before she could finish her question. Lucy was red in the face and clutched her key in her hand.

Excellent, an mischievous smirk spread across Laxus's face, he couldn't help himself. "Do you often do weird sex things with your spirits?" The smirk widened when Lucy turned around rapidly and stared at him mouth-open.

"What- I do not! My spirits are just weird like that…"

"Relax, I'm only teasing. I know you wouldn't do that." He watched her shoulders slowly lose tension. Next thing he knew, she was waving marshmallows in his face.

"Time for s'mores!" He didn't comment on the 180 she just did and let her tug him down to sit close to the fire. They sat there silently as Lucy handed Laxus his marshmallows, a stick, graham crackers, and chocolate. She looked so happy preparing everything, he didn't have the heart to tell her that he really didn't like marshmallows. So he let her have her moment.

It was nice, sitting by the fire while the sun went down around them. The cracking sounds from the fire and the marshmallows was soothing to listen to. "Do you know any scary stories?" _What was she five_?

"No."

She pouted all too tantalizing- "c'mon you have to have at least one good scary story."

Laxus paused and thought briefly, "I once walked in on the geezer when he was stepping out of the shower."

Lucy shuddered at the image, "you're right that's one scary story." Laxus watched, mesmerized as she created the s'mores and took a bite out of it. He watched as her tongue swiped a bit of residual marshmallow and didn't notice until Lucy called his name.

"Huh?"

"I said is everything okay? Your marshmallow is on fire." Laxus directed his eyes to where Lucy was pointing and quickly blew out the flaming treat.

Enough was enough, Laxus took in a deep breath and looked Lucy in the eyes. "I don't like marshmallows." He said solemnly. "I don't like them, they're too sweet. Sweet things in general aren't something I usually go for. The thing is though, you get tired of all the beer and its bitterness, sometimes, you want the marshmallow you know? But the only way you can have it is with a little bitterness."

Lucy nodded slightly confused. She didn't expect Laxus to feel so strongly about marshmallows. Something told her however, that maybe Laxus wasn't _just_ talking about marshmallows. "Okay… are you sure that's all Laxus?" She reached her hand forward and placed it tenderly over his. Laxus tore his eye contact away and looked down to where their hands met. He could feel his face flush and wanted to avoid looking back at the celestial wizard.

When he finally raised his head back he nearly jumped back at how close they were again. There was a pretty flush spread across Lucy's cheeks and Laxus could hear her heart rate quicken. The glow of the fire was making her all the more tantalizing.

Lucy bit her lip nervously. Laxus was closer, much more closer than they had been in town. Lucy steadied her nerves, it had to be the fire making Laxus appear flushed. There was no other way he could be blushing. Was she going to be able to do what she didn't have the courage to do last night? _I'm crazy but I'm going for it._

She took in one last deep breath before she went to close the distance between them, she could hear leaves rustling but ignored them in favor of her lips just barely brushing over Laxus's before he grabbed a hold of her shoulders and pushed her away.

Lucy wanted to cry in embarrassment. How could she had read everything so wrong?

She barely noticed Laxus stand up. But she was shocked out of her embarrassment when she heard him yell, "Elfman? What _the fuck_ are you doing here?"

 _Wait, what?_ Lucy scrambled to her feet as well and sure enough, Elfman sat, half-transformed at the edge of the campfire where he had tripped over a tree root.

Just what was going on?

And why was Elfman here?


	7. Chapter 7

**Paper Moon**

 _ **Chapter Seven**_

* * *

 **Laurel Grove Forest**

 **Laurel Grove**

 **Fiore**

Any embarrassment that Lucy felt vanished, her eyes wide as she stared at her giant team mate. Elfman was half-morphed into something that vaguely resembled a leopard, there was spots all over his skin, and he had taken on a more yellow tone. He seemingly had tripped over one of the thicker roots and was face down in a pile of leaves.

The whole situation would be laughable. If only she didn't have the urge to scream.

It at least gave Lucy the time to try and stop the rapid beating of her heart. She felt the little hairs on her arms start to stick up. She glanced at a particularly charged Laxus and wasn't surprised at the ominous aura that was coming off him. They were definitely of the more _aggressive_ variety.

"What the fuck are you doing here Elfman?" Laxus raised a questioning eyebrow and crossed his arms, his expression a mixture of suspicion, boredom, and irritation. Lucy cringed, he was deadly serious and she almost felt bad for Elfman. If he hadn't single-handedly ruined her moment, she would be more inclined to worry over him.

When the mage still hadn't lifted his head from the ground, Lucy started to worry. _What if he seriously hurt himself? Elfman isn't exactly the most graceful in the guild._ She leaned forward a bit, "do you think he's okay?" She asked as she went to stand next to Laxus. Elfman could have done more damage to himself than she thought. Lucy instantly felt bad for wishing he would dis-occupy the world.

If Laxus sensed her worry, he didn't show the slightest bit of empathy or acknowledgment. Instead, he snorted rather loudly. "Of course he is. If one little trip was enough to take him down, well, let's just say he wasn't a much of a man as he thought." He paused, "I wonder what _Evergreen_ would think of that..." Laxus seemed rather lost in thought as he trailed off, no doubt planning something mischievous.

However, this was not the time to be messing around, there were too many questions right now. At her pointed glare, Laxus sighed and walked over to the Strauss brother, mumbling something about 'overreacting, bossy women' with Lucy tagging close behind. He stopped and moved his foot a bit, somewhat lightly tapping at Elfman's side. When he got no reaction, Laxus shrugged and delivered a _minor_ shock to Elfman. He could feel Lucy's disapproval and for some reason that made him smile wickedly. It was nice to see her a bit angry.

As he predicted, Elfman shot straight up and looked around wildly. After a few seconds, he seemed to recognize where he was and now was looking from Laxus to Lucy. His mouth was slightly open just looking at them. There were a few choked noises before he found his words. "Er, Lucy! Uh, Laxus! What are you two doing here?" Lucy narrowed her eyes, was it her or did Elfman sound… _tense? What a terrible liar._

 _Wonder what his problem is. And what's with the spots? Why was he in the middle of transforming? And how did he find where we were?_

"I should be asking you that. What the fuck are you going here?" Laxus repeated his question, his arms crossed, this time much more firmly and Lucy watched the range of emotions cross Elfman's face. Right this second it was a face of terror and she wasn't sure if it was because of Laxus or if it was something else entirely.

"I-I don't know, um, why I'm here." If that was his best shot at lying, than Lucy was certainly surprised at how long Elfman had survived. It was that awful. And Laxus definitely did not believe it. Laxus's eyebrow twitched.

"Right. So you just _happened_ to trip over _our campfire_ in a forest that is _very_ difficult to find. And you don't know how you got here?" At Elfman's nod, Laxus face-palmed himself. "Listen, it's obvious you aren't telling us the truth. And normally, I would take that personally. But, _because_ we're lost," _I knew that Laxus had no sense of direction! "_ and it's getting dark, I'm willing to overlook this little incident in favor of some sleep." He narrowed his eyes at the transformation mage. "But come morning, you _will_ lead us out of this place."

He then turned to Lucy, his expression softer, "get some sleep, Blondie. We have a long day ahead of us."

She couldn't do much but nod and sink down to the bedroll. As she pulled her blanket over her, Lucy couldn't help but feel rather let down. She wasn't sure exactly what she wanted to happen, all she knew was that this ending was _not_ what she had in mind.

Hopefully morning would bring some clarity. And some answers.

Lucy felt something shake her shoulder, jolting her out of her sleep. She sleepily looked around and frowned; she was still in the forest.

 _So it wasn't all just a bad dream… I can't believe I was actually going to kiss Laxus._ Her face reddened as she recalled yesterday's events. She couldn't really bring herself to regret anything though. She just hoped Laxus would return her feelings somehow.

Lucy rubbed her eyes and saw both Laxus and Elfman sitting and eating some form of fish. _Where did they find fish?_ They took notice of her and Laxus called to her, "About time. We were worried we'd have to perform CPR." Lucy shot him a glare and he chuckled. "Hurry or your breakfast is gonna get cold."

She stood and walked nearer to the fire. She sat on the log she occupied last night and accepted the plate that Laxus handed her. "So-" Lucy said after taking several bites, "what's the story with this?" She gestured at Elfman with her fork.

Laxus shrugged, "I didn't manage to get a thing out of him. Not that I really cared, we're still leaving this godforsaken wilderness, and I don't care if Flamebrain or Fullbuster come along." There was a drop in her stomach, Lucy guiltily had forgotten about Natsu and Gray.

"It's not manly to leave a man behind!"

Laxus raised an eyebrow coolly, "ah so _now_ you talk." Elfman clamped his mouth shut. "C'mon don't get shy on us." He smirked and turned towards Lucy.

"Did you sleep well?" His gaze was intense and brought tingles to the tips of her toes. It was almost shameful to maintain such eye contact. She was powerless to do anything but nod. "Good. I'm glad." He cleared his throat. "Elfman says we're only about four miles from the house. If he managed to find us, no doubt he can tell us the way out." Lucy didn't mention the only reason they couldn't find their way out was because a certain _someone_ couldn't find his way around even with a celestial spirit helping out.

Lucy smiled at him, "Great! Then we can get to the bottom of all this." A nice long bath would do wonders to soothe her buzzing mind. At this point the reward was moot, she just didn't care for it anymore.

"Nice to see you in accordance." He nodded at her food, "let me know when you're ready so we can head out."

For a brief moment, she missed Laxus's gaze on her.

Laxus got up and started packing up the supplies- the view was certainly enjoyable, she was thoughtful for a moment before shoveling all her food in her mouth quickly. No need to postpone the inevitable too long.

"Ready!" Maybe she could just _tell_ him her feelings. By confessing, she wouldn't be left in this uneasy state. _Yes_ , she resolved, _that's just what I'll do. When we get back to the guild, I'll tell Laxus about my feelings._

* * *

 **Laurel Grove Forest**

 **Client's Mansion**

 **Fiore**

After walking back in relative silence, sparing a few glances that Lucy and Laxus kept exchanging, Lucy was very glad to see the old mansion peeking through the trees. _Finally! Now I can give this guy a piece of my mind. Let's see him refuse with Capricorn and Taurus banging on his door._

There was a tiny amount of shame considering they didn't really finish the job but she figured it didn't really count. At least now they would get some answers. Lucy broke out in a little jog only to stop in her tracks at a loud yelp.

"Wait!" She turned questioningly at Elfman. He was sweating and had his hands out. Lucy looked over at Laxus and saw he was just as equally confused.

"Elfman? What's wrong?"

His eyes darted around nervously. "Wouldn't you rather wait for Natsu and Gray to come back?"

He had a point. On one hand it would be better to wait for the other two. Who knew what could happen and rushing into battle unprepared really didn't sound enticing.

Laxus answered for her. "What for?" He sounded almost offended. "What good would the other two do? We'll just debrief them later."

"What if it isn't safe?" Laxus just stared at the giant mage.

"I'm _easily_ stronger than both those two knuckleheads." This time he really _was_ offended. "And Lucy can hold her own, no problem. Not to mention we have you, I'm sure you wouldn't just _watch_ your _teammates_ fight while you stood back." Laxus was baiting Elfman, his tone having a challenging lilt to it.

"Well yeah-"

Laxus cut him off with a devilish smile. "Great. Glad to see that squared away. Now go ahead, Blondie."

Lucy rolled her eyes and started her way back to the front door. She heard another strangled noise and she turned.

Laxus had a spark in his hand and he waved it threateningly at Elfman. "Why does it seem like you don't want us near the house?" Elfman visibly gulped. "Are you hiding something big man?" Without taking his eyes off Elfman, "Lucy go up to the house."

She gave Elfman one last worried glance- his face was looking particularly tight. She narrowed her eyes and wrapped her hand around the doorknob.

Lucy nearly shrieked as the doorknob melted in her grasp. She jumped back on the porch and could do nothing but watch as the mansion seemingly faded away. Her jaw dropped as the color faded and all was left was more forest area, the house instead becoming a clearing.

She was frozen in place. _What just happened?_ "WHERE DID THE HOUSE GO?" Lucy screamed. _Just my luck!_ Lucy finally moved from her spot and turned to look back at Laxus and Elfman.

Laxus had no expression on his face, his eyes flashed as he turned to Elfman. " _Elfman._ Where did the house go?" His voice was surprising calm and it was utterly terrifying.

Elfman nodded beneath his sweat. "I'll-I'll tell you, but I need Natsu and Gray there. They can explain."

"What? What do Natsu and Gray have to do with all this?" Lucy was completely bewildered. Her teammates? What could they possibly know that she didn't? And if they did know something, why didn't they include her? A small part of her childhood fear of being unwanted flashed throughout her body.

Laxus placed his hand on her shoulder, as if to reassure her. He cleared his throat, "Fine, we'll wait for them." He moved to sit down but Elfman stuck his hands out.

"Wouldn't you rather go back to the inn?"

Laxus sneered down at the other mage, "Why" his arms crossed, "does it seem like you're trying to get rid of us?"

Elfman was sweating bullets, "Well who knows when they'll get here? I'll wait here for them. I'm sure you wouldn't mind a bath."

"Are you saying I smell bad?" Laxus was fucking with him, Lucy could tell but she wasn't sure Elfman could.

"NO!"

"Whatever. Fine, Lucy and I will go back to the hotel and you can wait for stupid times two here, that work for you?" Lucy stared at Laxus. What were they doing now? Why were they waiting for answers? And why did Elfman get to stay, he was the shadiest one there!

Well, a shower _did_ sound promising.

But it was so out of character for Laxus to be this amenable. Lucy just hoped Laxus knew what he was doing.


	8. Chapter 8

**Paper Moon**

 _ **Chapter Eight**_

* * *

 _"Wouldn't you rather go back to the inn?"_

 _Laxus sneered down at the other mage, "Why" his arms crossed, "does it seem like you're trying to get rid of us?"_

 _Elfman was sweating bullets, "Well who knows when they'll get here? I'll wait here for them. I'm sure you wouldn't mind a bath."_

 _"Are you saying I smell bad?" Laxus was fucking with him, Lucy could tell but she wasn't sure Elfman could._

 _"NO!"_

 _"Whatever. Fine, Lucy and I will go back to the hotel and you can wait for stupid times two here, that work for you?" Lucy stared at Laxus. What were they doing now? Why were they waiting for answers? And why did Elfman get to stay, he was the shadiest one there!_

 _Well, a shower did sound promising._

 _But it was so out of character for Laxus to be this amenable. Lucy just hoped Laxus knew what he was doing._

* * *

 **Laurel Grove**

 **Fiore**

 _I can't believe Laxus went along with Elfman! Just like that, with no threats or anything. It's so unlike him._ Lucy was certain Laxus was going to murder Elfman but gave in very easily. Elfman had suggested that they head to the inn to wait for Natsu and Gray and Laxus had been completely complacent. _He didn't even seem to care what happened to the house!_ The house melting away freaked out Lucy and made her wonder what was even real. As much as she trusted in her guild and her nakama, there was a sneaking thought that Elfman was there for a reason and Lucy couldn't tell what kind of reason it was.

If there _was_ some kind of plot, Laxus knew something was up, why else would he actually _listen_ to _Elfman_ of all people. For whatever reason, Laxus wasn't sharing.

To add to that, Laxus had been silent since they left Elfman behind, Lucy had a lurking suspicion that he was sulking. Whatever it was, she was being ignored and that didn't sit right with her.

Feeling cheated and childish, Lucy grumpily followed behind Laxus, dragging her feet as much as she could before Laxus turned around, looking just as annoyed as she did.

"Are you going to do that the whole way back to the inn?"

Lucy played dumb. "Do what?" She asked innocently.

She could tell Laxus didn't buy that for a second. "You know exactly what you're doing." He rolled his eyes at her blank stare. "You're acting like a child."

" _I'm acting like a child?"_ Funny, she wasn't the one that was all pouty. "I'm sorry if I'm not _cheerful_ enough for you. In case you didn't notice, the house of our so-called-client vanished into nothing!" Lucy gestured wildly, had he already forgotten? Natsu was the same way and Lucy was certain if she asked Levy, she would say Gajeel was the no exception. _Are all dragonslayers this useless?_

 _No, not Wendy. That girl is amazing! She's too precious._

"Tch, you really dwell on things." Laxus crossed his arms over his chest, Lucy darted her eyes, trying to avoid staring at the area. _He would know._ "There's nothing to worry about."

He was so _unbelievable._ "So you're saying you aren't at all affected by all this?" Lucy huffed, even Laxus had to be aware of how much this whole situation sucked.

Laxus shrugged, "Oh I am, but the way I see it; the sooner we get the other two morons here, the sooner we get answers. We can't change what we can't change. Simple as that." It made complete sense but Lucy was still feeling petty. So she continued to follow behind, dragging her feet again; if only to piss him off. It wasn't much longer before he stopped again. Laxus sighed, "I can get us to the inn much faster. That is if you're done with your tantrum."

That caught her attention. She was _so_ done with all this walking. A smile crept along her face, her rotten mood instantly in the past. "Why didn't you say so before? Yes, let's go!"

Her smile widened when Laxus cracked her small grin. Would she ever get over how utterly gorgeous he was? Probably not. Just being around him made her happier. He gestured for her to get closer. "We need to be touching," he explained. Lucy nervously got closer to his side, the _last_ time she had gotten that close to him, she had tried to kiss him.

Twice now, actually.

Her heart was racing and she was certain Laxus could hear it. Lucy moved slowly and then stood a few inches away from Laxus, too nervous to get much closer.

With a roll of his eyes, Laxus tugged Lucy until she was nestled into his side. A small "eep!" escaped her. He leaned down to her ear, "nervous Blondie?" _You have no idea..._

Lucy blinked and before she finished, her surroundings changed completely. No longer were they on the dirt road on the outskirts of town, they were right in the lobby of the inn. All the air felt like it had been squeezed out of her. So _that_ was the way Laxus got around so fast, it was literally a blink of an eye.

She stumbled a bit but Laxus grabbed her hand before she fell. He gave her a small tug and she followed behind, her face beginning to redden. She ignored the astonished looks from the employees. They had after all, just suddenly appeared in the middle of the room.

She also tried to not let him notice how much his hand holding hers really affected her.

Laxus led her to her room and sat down on one of the chairs. His large body barely seemed to fit in said chair, giving him the appearance of a giant squeezed into a child's seat. Lucy plopped herself down on the bed and for a moment just breathed.

She stared at her feet before glancing up and catching Laxus's eyes. They were completely alone now. No interruptions, no Natsu, no Elfman, and no woodland creatures set on attacking them. Maybe Erza would show up on the back of a dragon.

"So." His voice was low and his eyes watched her every movement.

"So." She felt nervous again. _Will I ever be able to talk to him normally? I know he's hot and all but I'm being ridiculous. This crush is very inconvenient._

"Are you hungry? We could order something while we wait." Okay, so she wasn't expecting that. Food would be good, all that walking certainly made her hungry.

"Um, yeah that would be good." Lucy was a little surprised that Laxus was this calm. The old him would have hunted the boys down and demanded answers usually with brute force.

As if he read her mind, he answered. "Oh believe me, if I could hunt those two idiots down I would. In fact, I would never get myself this this type of situation. The old geezer assigned me and I don't really feel like pissing him off right now. I've been good."

Definitely a matter of opinion, but Lucy couldn't shake the uneasy feeling. "Do you think it was a good idea to leave Elfman behind?"

"I don't really see a problem with it. He _is_ part of Fairy Tail so I doubt he would leave. And if he did, we can always go back to the guild. We _don't have_ to wait too long. I'm just giving them some courtesy. I'm sure whatever is going on isn't anything malicious."

Lucy exhaled loudly. "Well I'll be damned." At his questioning look, she elaborated. "You've really matured. Not that you weren't mature before, you were more rash. I can't believe you're being this patient. You were a dick when I first met you." She smiled again, "you're _getting old._ "

"Is that so?" His tone was teasing now.

"Oh yeah, in fact I'm surprised you managed to keep with me without getting a heart attack."

"Oh, I can keep up with you any day."

When had he gotten up from the chair? More importantly, when had he gotten this close to her? She didn't give it much thought as he stood right in front of her, his head slightly tilted down. Laxus was inches away from her face, not moving any closer, waiting. Lucy bit her lip, hesitating. Laxus wasn't going to move any closer. "Really? Prove it." Lucy whispered. _Did I really just say that? What is wrong with me? Wh-_

Laxus took that as an answer and quickly closed the distance between them.

He was kissing her. Lucy froze under the foreign feeling, not quite done processing what was happening. Laxus was kissing her! His lips pressed a bit harder, demanding her focus, and Lucy finally responded. She closed her eyes and stood on her toes to hold his shoulders.

She couldn't help the inevitable blush that was rapidly spreading over her body. The world was spinning and her toes were curling.

Lucy moved her lips with his, it was a little clumsy at first, the angle made it a bit awkward as she craned her neck up, and his nose bumped into hers a bit. It was perfect.

Enthusiasm more than made up for it. Lucy swiped her tongue over Laxus's bottom lip and his hands tightened on her hips. She opened her mouth slightly, and Laxus took the invitation to press his tongue against hers.

Her arms wrapped around his neck as they continued kissing. Laxus gently reclined her back on the bed before crawling over her, never breaking the kiss.

Lucy pulled away to gasp for air and Laxus didn't hesitate to attach his lips to her neck. His tongue swirled over sensitive spots which he then would lightly nip. Her fingers brushed against the bottom of his shirt before slipping her fingers just underneath it, resting them on his bare skin.

Laxus gave her one more nip before looking up at her, his pupils were darker than normal. His eyes were unreadable before he kissed her again.

While the other kiss was softer and more cautious, this one was rushed, deeper, and messier. The mood shifted to something much more urgent and seductive. Lucy had no intention on stopping it or slowing down, consequences be damned.

She clenched the bottom of his shirt again and ripped it over his head. Lucy sat up just examining and admiring his body. _Oh Mavis, this guy is a god!_ Her eyes scanned over every muscle and the intricate lines of his tattoo. She wanted to lick him.

"You good Blondie? You're staring again." Lucy reluctantly tore her eyes from his chest and to his amused face. A laugh bellowed out when he saw her awed expression. It's not like he could blame her, she only dreamed about this oh, _every other_ night for as long as she could remember.

He didn't laugh long as Lucy launch herself at him, knocking him backwards and putting her on top, straddling his hips. Her lips slammed onto his, taking him by surprise at her boldness. Whatever Laxus had thought about Lucy's inexperience was wrong, she was no blushing virgin. Lucy's fingers trailed over his chest, tracing invisible circles. She flashed him a wink before dropping down to his waistline; she unbuckled his belt and toyed with the button. The mood picked up along with the small sense of urgency they had.

"Shit Lucy, you're beautiful." Laxus said as he rid her of her top. It was his turn to ogle at her generous chest. His hands moved up to cup her breasts through her bra. Lucy moaned quietly and unconsciously started to rock herself against Laxus's hardening member.

One of his hands found itself up her skirt, getting dangerously close to her heated center. Their eyes met again and for a brief moment everything slowed down and they were the only people in existence. She gave him the warmest, fondest, most sincere smile she had, trying to get her feelings across without actually saying them. Maybe she didn't have to wait until they got to the guild after all. It seemed like a good time to say something now.

Lucy cleared her throat, she gathered her thoughts and used all remaining courage she had. "Laxus, I-"

"Room service!" A loud knock made Lucy jump up and fall off the bed in surprise, effectively ruining the mood. "Room service!" _Really? Right now? Can't I catch a break?_

Lucy heard the bed rustle and a belt click. "Don't need any, now get lost!" Laxus stood up and pulled his shirt on. He tossed her her shirt and Lucy looked down at the material she was holding. "If you don't wanna wear it, that's fine by me, _I_ don't mind. However, I don't think you would appreciate eating dinner in public." Laxus paused, " _unless_ you're into the whole exhibitionist thing."

She blushed and rapidly tugged it on. She accepted the hand Laxus stretched out and reddened even more when he didn't let go of her hand. _What does this mean?_ Lucy looked up and returned his easy smile. _We'll figure it out as it goes._ There was definitely a shift in the relationship they had and though not everything was crystal clear right now, there was that glimmer of hope.

Heart leaping internally, she moved to follow behind Laxus and grumbled a bit when she slammed into his suddenly still body. He had the most annoying habit of doing that. "Everything okay Laxus?"

He slowly turned to look at her, his voice filled with barely contained rage. "I can't get out."

"What?" _What's he on about now?_

"Look for yourself." Lucy looked around his body, her jaw dropping. Sure enough there was a rune over the door and the walls; a very familiar magical signature was coming off them. "Yep. It's Freed's work." Laxus gritted.

"Are you sure that's him? It could be anyone…"

He merely gave her a pointed look. "I would know Freed's magic anywhere. It's his and we can't leave the room." Lucy allowed her jaw to drop. What the heck was going on here? She was sick and tired of questioning herself. No job should be this complicated.

Now she was certain, there was something happening and the guild was definitely involved.

"Are you KIDDING ME?"

* * *

 **You can probably guess what's going on.**

 **There is some more** _ **juicy**_ **parts but its not really a full fledged lemon yet. But I know it's confusing right now but everything will be made clear! As always I hope you like this chapter as it was one of my more favorite ones to write. I don't have a beta so some errors may have slipped by**


	9. Chapter 9

**Paper Moon**

 _ **Chapter Nine**_

* * *

 **Laurel Grove Forest**

 **Fiore**

They were gone, traveling down the dirt road, becoming smaller and smaller. Elfman let out a sigh he had been holding in since he was discovered the night before. He watched as the two blondes simply became small dots on the horizon. It was finally safe.

The giant mage turned and collapsed on the grass beneath him. He brought his arms down to rest on his lap. _Boy am I exhausted. I can't believe I just did that. Wait, I have to let them know that Laxus and Lucy are heading to the the inn._

He waited a few more minutes to be safe before sticking his hand in his pockets to dig around for a bit. There, nestled in his hands was a small communication lacrima. His part was nearly coming to an end and he was grateful. It was too much stress to his life.

He wasn't fond of these backhanded techniques, they simply were not manly. Especially since Laxus was involved, that in itself was a danger to his life expectancy. However, he had to do right by the guild. Elfman let the shakiness disappear from his body and scanned around the area. The house had vanished much too quickly, that wasn't supposed to happen for _hours._ They had underestimated the strength of the enchantment.

Not to mention he had nearly blundered the whole plan! Tripping over the campground was not in the original plan and it had nearly cost him his life, but he had found a way to fix it all and stick to the schedule the best he could.

Elfman looked towards the forest, Gray should be heading out any second, if he hadn't already. Hopefully he had done his part and gotten rid of Natsu like he was supposed to.

This was much too complicated for his like. Elfman didn't understand why they couldn't be _manly_ about this, why the sneakiness? He lifted the lacrima to his face and waited. He really hoped he wouldn't get punished for nearly ruining the plan.

The screen fizzled a bit and very real fear coursed through his body as he waited in anticipation. "Is it done?"

 _How am I going to explain my mistake?_ "They're heading to the inn now."

"Excellent! The next part will be initiated shortly. Join back with the others, Gray has already made his way back." _What? That means that Gray got rid of Natsu last night, how was he so manly? In the time it took him to complete his objective, I managed to screw mine up!_

"Y-yes of course. I'm just going to grab my stuff from my room; I'll see you in a bit."

"You did well, Elfman. They won't know we were even a part of this." The lacrima switched off and he felt very relieved.

He knew he was going to regret not telling her the plan was completely wrecked. The two mages were suspicious of him and the job. That little paranoia of them derailed _weeks_ of plotting. They were supposed to travel back to the inn when they saw the new note posted on the front door. That had to be tossed when the frigging house melted!

On top of that, having him stumble in front of them drew hostility from Laxus and put the job in jeopardy. But, he grinned as he relaxed, they didn't know about the surprise at the small inn. That would be his saving grace. Hopefully.

Because well-

Big sister Mira was scary!

* * *

 **Fairy Tail Guild**

 **Magnolia**

"You did well, Elfman." Mira shut off the lacrima and nodded at the Master. "He's heading back to the guild shortly, he completed his task successfully."

"Everyone gather around! Quickly, quickly. Everybody settled? Good, I hereby call this meeting to order." Makarov cleared his throat and looked down at all his children. The sight of them all gathered together nearly brought him to tears (that or the countless drinks he had consumed) and seeing them all gathered for such an important issue? Heart-wrenching. This truly was the guild that Master Mavis had set out to create. "We'll start off with roll call. Mira dear, if you could do the honors?"

"Certainly, Master. Listen up, because I'm only saying this once okay?" Mira was all smiles, but her tone suggested imminent death upon disobedience. The giggly atmosphere of the room decreased severely. The members could tell Mira meant business. "Levy?"

"Here!" The bluenette's hand was barely visible amongst the taller members.

"Freed?"

"Yes, yes I have-"

"Gray"

"I'm here."

"Good to see you made it back. Did you leave Natsu and Happy like how we discussed?" At his nod, Mira called out a few more names: Lisanna, Reedus, Cana, Gajeel, and a few other various members of Fairy Tail were there. "Alright, that's everyone except for Elfman, but he should be here in a few hours."

Makarov took that as his queue. "Then let's get started, welcome back everyone to the Fairy Tail Matchmaking Initiative, otherwise known as make-sure-Laxus-doesn't-die-alone group. And now for updates, Lisanna how did sequence D plan out?"

Lisanna stood from her seat and puffed her chest out proudly, "I'm proud to report part D went as Master Mavis planned." Lisanna then transformed into the little boar that had run Lucy off the ravine. "They never suspected a thing. Though," she said rubbing at her backside, "Laxus's bolts are no joke…"

"Excellent." Makarov turned around on the bar counter and added to the drawings on a random chalkboard. "Beautiful. That means operation E and F are set and will be completed shortly."

Behind him, there was a hastily drawn out plan. Mira pointed to it and circled the letters. "As a brief refresher, this operation and club was put together by the Master and myself."

It all started when Mira had one day noticed the Celestial Wizard sitting at one of the booths, alone. Lucy seemed to be waiting for her teammates, which was not out of the ordinary. Mira would have been content to leave the girl alone but while she waited, Mira noticed the blonde casually looking around the guild.

Mira had first thought she was probably looking for Natsu or something. (It was one of her more common ships) What really caught the demon off guard was when Lucy had finally let her eyes rest, she followed Lucy's eye line was surprised to see her staring intensely at the second floor at Laxus.

The blonde would absentmindedly drink her smoothie but her gaze always returned to Laxus. _Oh, what's this? Does Lucy have a thing for our resident lightning dragon slayer?_ Then, after a few more _sessions_ of Lucy-watching, Mira discovered that it wasn't a one-time thing. Lucy constantly searched out the older man whenever the chance stood. It was intriguing and better yet, Laxus returned the other blonde's gazes when she wasn't looking. _Very intriguing._ Soon, an idea formed in Mira's head; a couple she had never even considered.

Naturally, she told Makarov about what she had witnessed and was pleased to discover that he was in agreement with her. He had twiddled his mustache and grinned devilishly. And that was how the club was created, soon, the pairing attracted more and more supporters. And so Operation Paper Moon was created.

It was actually a very simple plan.

(It was not.)

Part A was creating a fake request that Mira and Levy had drawn up. It was something that was supposed to offer a larger reward for a relatively simple sounding duty. It had to be something that would attract Lucy's attention and make it seem like it was her idea to take the job. So the mystical mushroom ' _Lia Tyriaf'_ which was really only 'Fairy Tail' backwards, was born.

After that, part B was to somehow replace Erza for Laxus. The job had to be S-Class but Erza was not the S-Class mage to take the job. Under the watchful eye of Erza, no love could bloom. Makarov took care of that part. By sending Erza away, it took away from the pain she would cause everyone once she found out what was happening. So sending her to another "job" that just so _happened_ to be at a resort and it just so _happened_ that Jellal was there as well. Makarov quickly came up with an excuse on why Laxus needed to chaperone team Natsu, which really wasn't all that hard. They were very destructive and with Laxus's very obvious guilt complex, it had been cake.

Then C was Gray's part. He was to send Lucy and Laxus on a bogus search for Natsu, guaranteeing personal time spent together. Lucy wasn't going to let her best friend stay missing and Laxus wasn't going to let Lucy wander around in an unfamiliar place. It only slightly backfired when Laxus electrified the crap out of him. But he stayed strong and didn't reveal the plan. Mira was just scarier to be honest. He also was in charge of getting rid of Natsu and Happy momentarily. Erza and Natsu would be the most opposed to the matchmaking simply because they were the most protective of Lucy. So it was an obvious choice to remove him from the equation altogether. (It was mostly because Erza and him would have found a way to mess up the plan.)

Gray snickered, that flamebrain wasn't expecting Gray to tie him up and leave him on the train; Lucy had inspired him with the stunt she had pulled earlier. The idiot didn't even _know_ he was on a train. Natsu had been dead asleep at his campground when Gray found and tied the fire mage up and tossed him on the first train he saw with the help of his maker magic, that was a cakewalk. By now, Natsu should be on his way back from Hargeon, where the attendants were bound to find him. _But not for at least another couple of hours…_ All he had to do to get rid of Happy was to bribe the cat with some fish and he eagerly followed.

 _Payback sure feels good._ It was nice to stick it the fire mage.

Laxus had unknowingly initiated sequence D when he suggested everyone split up in different directions, Mira couldn't have planned it better if she tried. From there, Lisanna had transformed into a little boar, her job was to lead Lucy to Laxus by all means possible. She had also been the bird that attacked the pair later on. (It took her awhile to heal from all the shocks Laxus sent her way.)

Elfman was supposed to trail Lucy and Laxus and make sure they didn't stray from one another. In order to do that, he had picked his stealthiest transformation. With the leopard transformation, he could follow the two unnoticed.

From there, the two would make it back to the beautiful mansion Reedus had painted, read the note on the door stating that Gray and Natsu had already _found_ paper moon and were waiting at the inn with the reward.

Obviously the two would head to the inn only to 'wander' into a rune that Freed had subtly drawn, forbidding them from leaving the room. The rune would have them locked together for seven hours or however long it took them to admit their feelings.

The goal was that the close proximity would unleash the sexual tension Mira just _knew_ the two of them had.

And it was so simple!

(There was _so_ _much_ room for error.)

She sighed happily, she could just imagine the beautiful babies the two would produce. They were in her debt, now they _had_ to make her godmother!

Her joy soon came crashing down.

"Did you hear that?" Gajeel suddenly interrupted. Gajeel was really only in on this stupid plan because Levy was. His head was pointed to the ceiling, as if he was trying to hear. Everyone else in the guild became silent. His arms crossed. "I don't recall seeing thunderstorms as part of the forecast." And it wasn't, the weather called for sunny skies. The rumbling got louder and it seemed like it was moving _towards_ the guild hall.

The Master was the first to respond, with a spew from his drink. "Oh shit, it's Laxus."

Mira stared incredulously at Freed, "I thought you enchanted the hotel room so they couldn't leave!" _Oh please no! This isn't part of the plan!_

The rune mage just lowered his head nervously. His calculations had been all wrong! If only he hadn't been so boastful, he knew Laxus was magnificent! "There's a possibility they could have escaped. It was only preventing them from leaving from the door or windows." His voice trailed off, how could he be so stupid? Of course the two of them would find a loophole. He let Laxus down, now he was _never_ going to be with Lucy. Freed cleared his throat and quickly spit out, "Lucy _does_ have her Celestial Spirits and Laxus is no slouch." There was more silence as the thunder sounded stronger.

 _Everyone_ panicked. Some tried to leave the building but it was in vain when the guild doors slammed open. Laxus strided in, looking extremely ticked off with Lucy trailing not far behind, looking just as irritated as Laxus.

"Laxus my boy, you're back!" Makarov gulped as he clutched his mug tightly. They were all _so_ fucked. _How did they get here so fast? Oh wait. Laxus. Of course. I hate his powers sometimes._

But Laxus was having none of it. "Cut the crap. Now does someone wanna tell me what's going on?" _Well at least the boy isn't a total moron, glad to see that some things stuck._

"Whatever makes you think something's going on?" What he wouldn't do for some Lightning Empress Armor.

"Don't take me for Natsu, I knew something was fishy the moment you made me take Erza's place. Having Elfman trample into us confirmed that."

"Where's Elfman?" Mira threatened quietly, she had spoken to Elfman not even an hour ago. "Laxus, if he's harmed-" Laxus merely rolled his eyes.

"Tch, don't get your panties in a wad. The big lug's fine, he's just shaking off the little spin Virgo gave him when he walked past us in the inn. The idiot had booked the room across from Lucy."

Mira made the choice to ignore the attack on Elfman's intelligence. "How did you get out of the runes?"

"Did you really think that I couldn't _break_ one of _Freed's_ enchantments? It said we couldn't leave from the door or windows, so I made my own." Mira watched Laxus scan everything in the room. "What's with all this junk?" Mira made the error of moving out of instinct to try and cover up the board, succeeding in only catching his attention and sealing her fate. He looked up and down the chalkboard they had out. His eyes narrowed even more, they moved at a rapid speed, taking everything in much quicker than Mira thought.

"What the fuck is all this Mirajane?" Laxus sounded terrifying. So much so that Lucy stepped out from behind him and read over the board as well, her eyes widening.

"Well, you see- the master and I-"

"Don't throw me in there!"

"Enough! You know how fucked up this is?" Laxus glared at every member, "you created a fake mission with fake information _just_ to get us together? Are you serious? You wasted a ton of time, energy, and money. I could have spent those days doing something more important."

"We just wanted you to be happy…" Mira trailed off, looking down with shame.

His face was in disbelief. "So you what, you think locking me up with Blondie for 48 hours would make me happy? I barely know her! What about Lucy? Did anyone ask her what she wanted?"

"Please," Gray snorted, "she's been mooning over you for _years_ now. You're all she wants. Everyone knew, I didn't think you were so clueless."

Laxus was silent then.

Lucy's heart caught in her throat, she tore her eyes from the ground to look at Laxus but he was avoiding her gaze. _Did Gray just tell Laxus how I feel about him? He wasn't supposed to know!_ It was one thing to make out with the guy but to have him hear how deep her devotion went was a completely different story. Her heart pounded as she waited anxiously for his response. It was all out on the table now.

After what felt like years, Laxus with an unreadable expression cleared his throat. "Whatever. I'm done." He turned and without a single glance to Lucy, left the guild.

"Laxus wait!" He couldn't just leave! Not like that, what did he mean by 'whatever'? Why did he leave without sparing her a glance. Had she done something wrong? She called out to him twice more and nearly cried when he kept going with no sign he had heard her.

And she could do little more than stare at the doors as they closed.

* * *

 **My favorite chapter to write! All will be explained shortly. I felt pretty inspired so I decided to treat you all! Much love and I hope you all like it. I know Laxus pulled a pretty dick move, but I needed it to serve in my plot sooo, no worries, this won't be forever.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Paper Moon**

 _ **Chapter Ten**_

* * *

 **Fairy Tail Guild**

 **Magnolia**

 **Fiore**

 _After what felt like years, Laxus with an unreadable expression cleared his throat. "Whatever. I'm done." He turned and without a single glance to Lucy, left the guild._

" _Laxus wait!" He couldn't just leave! Not like that, what did he mean by 'whatever'? Why did he leave without sparing her a glance. Had she done something wrong? She called out to him twice more and nearly cried when he kept going with no sign he had heard her._

 _And she could do little more than stare at the doors as they closed._

Lucy felt the eyes of the entire guild on her, they had been witness to her humiliation. The guild doors slammed open almost as soon as they shut, Lucy's eyes widened and she didn't dare hope, had Laxus come back after all? Had he listened to her pleas? She clenched her fists by her side and tried not to hold her breath.

Instead, a very familiar and very terrifying voice commanded the room. Perhaps it would be better to hold her breath after all.

"Where's Natsu and what did he do? I just passed Laxus on the way in and he certainly didn't look very pleased. In fact, I thought I was going to be electrified." Lucy tried to not let her shoulders slump. No Laxus, but she was just as equally as terrifying as him, maybe more. Erza Scarlet stood imposingly at the front door, pushed her bangs out of her face and scanned the room, no doubt on the hunt for a certain fire dragon slayer.

"Natsu isn't here." Lucy murmured quietly. Everyone else just watched in terror, a pissed off Laxus was horrifying but an angry Erza? That was worse than death. Erza turned to look at her, but before she could say anything, she was roughly pushed past by a flurry of green. Her smaller body stumbled into a table, her eyes wide in surprise.

"Laxus, I can explain, wait for me!" Freed's stool was left spinning on how fast he had moved, the whole guild waited with baited breath to see what the fearsome Titania would do in response to such disrespect. They all watched as the guild doors were left swinging. Lucy was sure that those doors would fall apart if anymore abrupt slamming occurred.

It was a great surprise when Erza merely shrugged and sat down at their usual table. "No matter, I brought presents!" She pulled out a giant burlap bag and dumped its contents onto the table. Out poured piles of candy, bags of popcorn, along with some stuffed animals. "Come, sit Lucy, I brought enough to share!" She didn't even notice the whiteboard describing all the planning and she certainly didn't notice the tension in the air. _Typical Erza. Oblivious to the world._ In spite of herself, Lucy cracked a small smile. It was hard not be to happy when the Requip mage was in such a good mood.

Regardless of that, Lucy had no plans to stay. She needed to leave as quickly as possible. "Actually, I'm just going to head out. I just came back from that job and I need a nice, long bath." Lucy tried to put as much cheer into her voice and expression as possible. Erza was innocent in all this after all. However, the scary glint in the redhead's eyes was enough to change her mind. "On second thought, I guess I could stay for a bit longer." She quietly muttered reluctantly.

A wide grin cracked Erza's face. "Excellent! Gray you must join us too!" It was glaringly obvious that was the last thing he wanted to do. Gray leaned against the wall and shook his head.

"It's alright, I already ate and I'm-"

"Gray. Sit." There was no room to question the almighty queen of the fairies. So Gray set his jaw and sat down across from Lucy, avoiding her accusing stare. Erza beamed and pushed a green piece of candy towards him. "You must try these green candies, they're simply exquisite."

With all the awkwardness in Earthland, Gray slowly grabbed the offered piece. "Um, sure. Where did you get all this candy?"

"I'm glad you asked. But you should eat that candy, it'll change your life." Gray smiled wanly and followed the obvious demand. Pleased, Erza continued, "Remember that job I just took?" They both nodded. "Well it was at a resort and it had an amusement park. Guess who I ran into there?" Her cheeks were as warm as her hair. There was no doubt in Lucy's mind on just who the mystery person was.

Lucy humored her. "Who?" There was a stifled cough, her eyes moved to the noise. She curiously stared at Gray, whose face was contorted in what seemed to be pain. He shook his head at her concerned face. Plan or not, he was still her nakama. Even if he was a dirty traitor.

"Jellal! It was a complete shock to see him there, but worry not, I had an incredible time. He won this for me!" Erza rummaged through one of her suitcases and pulled out a massive stuffed Mato. "Beautiful isn't he?"

"Uh-sure…" Lucy politely took a candy the redhead offered her; like Gray, she also unwrapped the candy at Erza's demand. As soon as she put the candy in her mouth, she regretted it. Her mouth was on fire, coating her throat in flames. _Just what was Erza thinking? Is she trying to kill us?_ Lucy nodded along until she was sure Erza was no longer paying attention and spat the candy into a napkin.

Her eyes caught Gray's and he offered her a smile, knowing what the candy had done. He shrugged his shoulders as if to say 'what can you do.' Lucy stared for a moment before sending him a small smile of her own. She couldn't stay mad at her saltmate after all. Who else would be petty with her?

"Then we played some games and ate cotton candy and rode a roller coaster. The strange part was that there was _no_ job to do. When I arrived, the woman at the front desk told me there was no request for Fairy Tail to do any security job. It was most bizarre." Erza held her chin pensively and looked around the room before her eyes landed on the board Mira was trying to wheel away. "What is that?"

Mira froze in her tracks and turned around, smiling hesitantly. "What's what Erza?" She stood in front of the board, attempting to obscure the content. Erza abruptly stood and placed her hands on her hips.

"Don't take me for a fool. What's on that board that you're so obviously trying to hide?" Lucy took that as her opportunity to slip away. She was not about to be in the same area as Erza when she went on a rampage. Not wanting to head home empty handed, she shoved a handful of treats in her luggage and made her grand escape.

She stepped out the doors and let out a huge sigh as the cool air brushed her face. Lucy made her way towards her house, and bit her wobbling lip. There was no way she was going to cry. There was nothing to be upset about. Absolutely nothing. _I wonder where Laxus went, I wonder what he's thinking. Is he as sad as me? Probably not. Ugh, what a mess._ At the same time, she worried for her fiery best friend, no doubt he wasn't having a good time. So lost in her thoughts, Lucy was nearly halfway home before she noticed a blur of pink and blue tackle her and knock her to the ground.

"Lucy!" She groaned and looked up at his smiling face.

"Hey Natsu, when did you get here?" According to Gray, the poor guy had been stuck on a train that was on a never-ending loop. Happy hugged himself to Lucy-it mostly likely had been the exceed that had flown Natsu off the train.

"Just now, you'll never believe what happened last night! I'm so glad you're okay!" Happy exclaimed.

"When I get my hands on that frozen stripper, he'll regret leaving me on that train." Even now, Natsu's face was tinted green.

"Sounds like you had a rough night, do you wanna come with me to my house? I can make us dinner." Maybe it would be a good idea to not be alone and Natsu was the most understanding person she knew. If there was anyone she could talk to, it was him.

"Tasty fishies..." Happy mumbled, drool dripping as he trailed behind them.

"You don't have to ask me twice, let's go!" Lucy smiled softly at being tugged by the other boy, it was obvious why Natsu was her best friend, the dragonslayer emanated blissful cheer.

* * *

 **Lucy's Apartment**

 **Magnolia**

Soon, Lucy was seasoning the fish before placing it in the warm oven. Natsu was in front of her coffee table, he had already set it for dinner and had tea ready. It was nice that after all these years, their routine was established and they didn't trail from it often. Natsu was a _disaster_ in the kitchen. The guy could cook, but the mess wasn't worth it. So Lucy cooked. She wiped her hands and flopped rather dramatically on her couch and let out a long-suffering sigh. The last couple of days had been such a emotional roller coaster that she was utterly exhausted-as if her strength had been sapped from her. It was tough to imagine all the trouble her guild mates went through just to change her single status. It would have been more appreciated if they had done nothing, but she couldn't change that now. She let out another puff of air and pulled her arms over her head to stretch; she could really use a massage to help her aching back. Sometimes, big breasts were really such an inconvenience.

"Hey Lucy, you okay?" The question nearly caught her off guard. She eyed Natsu and was surprised and then warmed at the concern in his eyes. _I didn't think he would notice anything. He_ _ **is**_ _Natsu after all._

"Not really." Lucy brought her teacup to her lips, not bothering to elaborate.

She took another deep sip before she cleared her throat. "It's about Laxus." Natsu nodded at her and with a sudden burst of confidence, she blurted out, "I'm half in love with Laxus butheisn'tandthewholeguildwasinonaplantogetustogether _the WHOLE job we went on was fake_ a-and he didn't look back."

Natsu had to understand her _somehow._ He _had_ to understand her, if he didn't of all people, she really was gonna lose it. Lucy dared herself to look at him and was surprised when he merely hugged her tightly. "Erza told me a real quick rundown when I entered the guild. I ran out to find you, cause after all, this was more directed at you. I knew you must be hurting and wanting to talk."

Lucy let out a sharp bark of laughter, "Natsu, when did you become so mature?" He smiled at her. "I just don't know what to do." She wrung her hands nervously. "I really, really like Laxus."

"So what else is there to do? Tell him how you feel, duh." _Excuse me? Did he hear me the first time? I swear, my best friend is an idiot. Why is he even my friend, all he does is eat my food and destroy my house! Does he really think that didn't already happen, never mind that it was disastrous?_ Lucy just massaged her eyebrow impatiently. Why did she think this idiot would understand?

"Nat-"

"Hear me out. Actually tell him how you feel. Laxus doesn't really like stuff that takes away his control; he's a weirdo like that. He was prob'ly just surprised, so next time you see him, just tell him in person, one-on-one. I'm positive he likes you back."

"Natsu what kind of crackpot, half-witted, idio-" _Wait-_ it kind of made sense? This time the whole guild had interfered, it could have easily freaked out Laxus, he was somewhat of a control-freak. But all the other times, like the snow day, the little smiles he sent her way, the hotel room, and all those almost-kisses. There just _had_ to be something there. New hope was brimming in her chest, maybe by telling him herself, it would be different. It was worth a shot, Lucy already felt total humiliation, adding to it wouldn't make it worse. "I think you're right Natsu, next time I see Laxus, I'll make sure to talk to him." The timer went off, alerting Lucy to the meal. She rose from her seat and quickly pulled out dinner and set it out on the table. She would worry about Laxus later, when the moment came to speak to him. Right now, she wanted to talk to her best friend.

* * *

 **Fairy Tail Guild**

 **Magnolia**

Makarov Dreyar, third master-wait- was it sixth? Eighth master? He himself always lost count of what master of Fairy Tail he was. Not that it mattered because right then, he was in a world of despair and pain. His eyes swept his beloved guild and glanced over each and every one of his children. He took a deep breath and out of a despairing wail.

It was in ruins!

Tables were flipped, the chairs were splintered, and the wonderful, magnificent, bar! It was in piles of rubble. That alone would cost him a fortune in repairs. Not to mention the hefty bill Porlyusica would undoubtedly send him. Half the guild members were tossed around as if they were dolls. Groans of pain and soreness rang through the air.

And the reason for this unprecedented, staggering defeat?

It was none other than Titania herself, Erza Scarlet. Another chair flew past him, missing his right ear by mere centimeters. Perhaps it was best to retreat and regroup for now.

"Don't shy from your punishment you foul deceivers! If I find out that our sweet Lucy's virtue was defiled, I will strike you down and make you rue the day you crossed me!" Erza could be heard screeching menacingly at the completely puzzled and weepy Nab.

Yes, it would be best to stay out of her eyesight. Makarov decided before ducking under a flipped table near him. He knew everything would work out in the end, his children were very resilient. All they needed was for Laxus to get his head out of his ass and realize the happiness that was awaiting him from Lucy.

As he crouched, he noticed the bottle of wine that remained untouched. Sure, Erza was rampaging, but there was no reason not to get a little drunk.


	11. Chapter 11

**Paper Moon**

 **Chapter Eleven**

 **Fairy Tail Guild**

 **Fiore**

Her eyes wandered towards the job board for the fifth time that morning. Nab was standing around scanning each job which was pointless, because everyone knew he wasn't going to take a single one. As the hours passed slowly, the number of jobs available headily started to vanish as other mages took them. It was a small area of concern for Lucy,

Erza was standing in the corner, he hand rested on the sword on her hip. Since the paper moon job, she had taken it upon herself to watch and 'protect' Lucy from 'threats'. At least it kept Vijeeter and his ridiculous dancing away from her. Mira hummed happily and had Kina deliver a strawberry smoothie to Lucy's table.

Since that, she also had been receiving free smoothies thanks to Mira's guilt complex, so there was that. Everyone else had been super nice to her recently too. Levy offered to let Lucy read a very ancient tome _first,_ Gray made her snow cones all day long and was basically at her beck and call. The remaining who weren't in the infirmary offered to do odd jobs for her. Lucy was receiving first class treatment and it was the life.

If only she could stop staring at the stupid job board. Her gaze slid right back to it and sighed when she saw Max of all people grab a flyer and take it to Mira.

 _Well that didn't last very long_. Lucy frowned. It hadn't even been a week and she already wanted to cave in. In all fairness, she truly did want to try and stick to her word and it _was_ working until she remembered it was the end of the month.

Rent was due on the first and she was broke again. Natsu's huge appetite did not pay for itself. _I swear Happy and Natsu are going to eat me out of a home,_ she wailed internally. Life was so unfair.

Also, she was _incredibly_ bored. Who knew waiting for someone to return could be so exhausting mind-numbing? All the romance novels she read made it seem like a natural gesture. It wasn't realistic, there was no way Lucy could be at the guild at any given time. Who knew this would be so hard?

It was made harder by the fact that Lucy swore Laxus was avoiding her, she hadn't seem a hair of him. She tried to not let it sting.

Besides, what was the harm in taking a small side job? Bisca and Alzack did it all the time now that they had Asuka. _Yes_ , Lucy nodded, she would do just that. After she kicked Natsu's butt that was. He was going _down._

"I hope you're ready to lose to me, Natsu, you won't get away this time." Lucy taunted.

"I already won Lu." _What? Impossible! We just started!_ "Read em' and weep."

The two of them were engaged in a very intense battle of checkers. Lucy stared at the game board and her remaining pieces. Her eyes swept over each and every piece meticulously. There was a mistake somewhere, she was not going to admit defeat! She narrowed her eyes and stared at the dragonslayer. Then, she suddenly jumped up, startling a more than a few mages. "I know you're cheating! I don't know how, but you are!" She glared at Natsu, hoping to intimidate him into fessing up. He just had to be, there was no way she lost to _Natsu_ of all people.

"What? Are you crazy? Why would I need to cheat? Maybe you just suck at checkers." Natsu said causally and stuck his tongue out at her. "You're way too cocky.'

"I do not!" Lucy pouted, "I don't wanna play anymore. I don't even like checkers." she pushed the game board across the table and she slumped down on the table. "I'm boreddddddd…" She sighed.

"You were the one that suggested checkers. Why don't we just go on a job?" Natsu offered. "That's always fun." _Your definition of fun is chaos. Mine? Not so much._

She took a deep breath. "I've actually been thinking about taking on a new job. But it would have to be something easy and quick, since we didn't get paid for that wild goose hunt."

Natsu grinned widely at her. Lucy knew that he was just as bored sticking around the guild with her. She had tried to send him off on a few jobs but he protested loudly and declared his intent to stay with her until 'Laxus got his head out of his ass.' "This is gonna be awesome! Let me go find Erza and Gray, you go find us a job!" He jumped out of his seat and ran off wildly.

Lucy couldn't help but smile at his retreating form. Natsu's blinding optimism made it difficult for anyone to mope around. As much as she wanted to see Laxus, he would just have to wait, if anything, his team probably wouldn't get back by the time Lucy finished the job. The Thunder God tribe took on an S-Class job immediately. Those usually took a few weeks.

No matter how much her heart ached for Laxus, it wouldn't do to spend all day with her head in the clouds. Lucy stood in front of the job board. It had to be something easy but also something her team wouldn't destroy. She looked over each one and stopped when a brightly colored flyer caught her eye.

Her hand reached out and she scanned it briefly. It was perfect! There was no way to mess this up! All the client wanted was a small security team to watch over his daughter's wedding, it was simple and easy. It wasn't that far either, maybe a day's journey at most. Apparently the extra muscle that mages provided would be enough to deter any uninvited guests from entering and make sure his daughter's special day was perfect.

* * *

 **Clover Forest**

 **Fiore**

"Bickslow, behind you!" The seith mage turned and directed his babies at the monster running towards him. His soul magic manoeuvred them in front of the vulcan's feet and tripped him while the other two knocked it out.

"Ha! Piece of cake, this job is way too easy." No sooner did he utter that, a huge group of around 40 vulcans of varying sizes creeped out of the surrounding forest.

Evergreen rolled her eyes, "Way to go Bickslow. Now we have to work even harder. What's a girl to do?" She whined dramatically before lowering her glasses and taking out thirteen in one fell swoop.

Freed rushed to his beloved leader's side. "Laxus, are you well?" He himself was feeling rather _sapped_ from the sudden attack. He had faced off against fifteen other monsters before the vulcans showed up.

 _Snap!_ Freed watched as his beloved leader slammed another monster with so much force, there was a sickening crunch- the creature was bound to have a broken jaw. He hadn't even used his lighting magic.

Laxus took out nearly every single one on his own, he obviously had a lot of emotions to get through. Without skipping a single beat, Laxus turned and swiftly punched a vulcan that had been creeping behind him.

The pervy beast flew into the air and twinkled into the woods farther away. Freed watched his leader crack his back and start to walk back to the town to collect the reward without a word to his team. _Again._ The other members of the Thunder Legion were just expected to follow. Freed pushed away some of the hair that had fallen on his face in mild irritation. "Laxus, are you _sure_ you're feeling alright?" There was no response which didn't surprise Freed. Laxus, however, he didn't even turn around, the nerve! He was fortunate that it was Laxus, if anyone else had brushed him off like that- well they didn't say he had a 'dark' side for no reason.

The blond merely grunted. Freed glanced exasperatedly at Bickslow-he was going to lose his mind! Ever since Laxus and Lucy had discovered the paper moon plot that he was involved in, Laxus had refused to speak to Freed. At first, it was understandable. Surely, he wouldn't hold the grudge forever, they were after all on the same team. But Laxus had held firm, his stubbornness was truly admirable. Freed had hoped doing job after job in such rapid succession would appease the large man and help him atone. Instead, it only served to silence him even more.

The silent treatment was starting to take a toll on Freed.

Why couldn't Laxus see that Freed only wanted to help? His only wish in life was to take care of Laxus after all. His happiness was all that mattered.

Still, it had been two weeks of this hell. They hadn't been in the guild in days and if they were- it was only to quickly grab a job request and then vanish. Laxus wasn't known to express his feelings, he was rather repressed. But anyone could see that he was upset. If Freed had known what negative effect this would create, he would have never participated in the hair-brained scheme of Mirajane. No matter how terrifying and ruthless she could be. He had hoped that in succeeding, his leader would be happier and all Freed ever wanted was to make Laxus happy. No one else was so deserving of such happiness but his leader was. Because beneath that tough exterior, Laxus was lonely. Lonelier than anyone he had ever met.

And he had seen how Laxus watched the celestial mage. Freed was certain that Laxus was not even aware of the feelings he had, he probably wasn't aware that he stared after Lucy in a longing manner, that he went out of his way to accommodate the girl, to speak to her. The changes were subtle, unnoticeable to regular people, but for him and Mira, they had caught on rather quickly. Especially since Freed was positive he once saw Laxus _blush_ when Lucy smiled brightly at him. It was an obvious choice to help get them together. He reluctantly agreed, however, that it wasn't the _most_ thought out idea. There was so much room for error after all. He had already calculate all possible consequences.

He was prepared for this kind of occasion, one had to be ready for all possibilities but he hadn't prepared for the silent treatment he was receiving. He, the most loyal to Laxus was lost without him. Now he was reduced to walking behind the group. And it was cold and muddy and everything hurt, there was surely a few leaves in his hair and Freed loathed the dirt, preferring cleanliness over anything.

As if Bickslow could feel his distress, he nudged Freed gently. "Give the boss man some time. You did after all fuck with his life. You know how much of a control freak he is."

Freed crossed his arms and glared at the path. "Yes, I am very aware of that, but it's been _weeks_ Bickslow. How long does he plan on dragging us from town to town? Without even a word to his team?"

"First off, it's only been like a week and a half and secondly, can't blame him," Bickslow muttered, rubbing the back of his neck. "Although, he has been a real piece of work lately. He made that little girl cry the other day."

"How could I forget?" The girl had burst in sobs when Laxus fixed her with a malevolent glare. Normally, he would have been bashful or ashamed of making a child cry, but he breezed past her like she wasn't there. One also couldn't forget that time a few days ago when Laxus watched Freed slip and tumble down the hill they were climbing. When he had found the strength to climb back up, his hair covered in leaves and dirt streaks on his face, only to see that Laxus hadn't waited for him! He had to sprint to catch up with the team.

And _then_ there was all the weather conditions. Everywhere they went, there was a huge thunderstorm brewing in the clouds. A sure sign of their leader's moody tendencies. And Freed was done with getting trampling all over the forested areas of Fiore. He was sure Evergreen and Bickslow would agree. They all just wanted their friend back.

There was a not-so-delicate cough. "Laxus, when are we heading back to the guild?" Evergreen finally asked. Evergreen had gone out of her way to stay silent, her normal complaints were non-existent. Freed was actually surprised on how well she could read the atmosphere. Her restraint was stronger than he thought. Evergreen knew to stay to herself and keep her mocking comments to herself. _The stress must have gone to her head too if she's finally saying something._ The blonde grunted again. _Hopefully Evergreen will let it go. Hopefully._ Freed watched her eyebrow twitch at his dismissal. _Perhaps not…_ "Laxus Dreyar!"

Bickslow turned to stare at the brunette. "Did she just yell at Laxus?" He whispered to Freed, disbelieving. They both watched as Laxus stopped and turned around. "Better yet, did Laxus just listen to her?"

"What is it Ever?" Laxus said tiredly as if all the weight of the world was on his shoulders.

Ever nodded and took a deep breath. "When are we heading home? I miss sleeping in a bed." _Way to make it about yourself Evergreen._ Freed rolled his eyes, was everyone this selfish?

His face was unreadable as he paused briefly before answering. "When I feel like it."

Evergreen stomped her foot. "I'm sick and tired of walking all over Fiore without rest. We need to head back to the guild, this is getting ridiculous and you're acting like a child!" Laxus raised his eyebrow and the other two waited for the bolt of lightning that Evergreen was sure to receive.

"You wanna go back so bad? Then go. No one is forcing you stay."

Evergreen's mouth opened in surprise. "Are you kicking me off the job?" She didn't let Laxus speak, "You know what?" She adjusted her glasses. "Fine. I'll head back to the guild and wait for you to get your ass out of your head. Lucy doesn't deserve this either. Just because something went on without your knowledge doesn't mean you get to treat us like this." She turned on her foot and flew off, leaving Laxus to stare after her. No one really expected her to leave.

"I don't know why she complained, she can fly. The rest of us actually have to walk." Bickslow mumbled.

Freed pinched the bridge of his nose."Bickslow, we can _all_ fly." Secretly, he knew Evergreen was in the right this time. Laxus had to know how tired they all were, he was just as exhausted as them, the dark circles under his eyes were a dead give-a-way to how he felt.

* * *

 **Clover Town**

 **Fiore**

Evergreen was right. Laxus could admit that much, he wanted to go home just as badly as the rest of his team. He rubbed his face tiredly, he just didn't know how to go back after that show he made when leaving.

He regretted that deeply, even he could admit it wasn't the best way to leave. _What did Lucy think of that? She probably hates me now and there's no way to fix it._

It was just easier to repress his feelings and get to work, fighting was al he was good at anyways. Laxus could hear Freed and Bickslow trudge slowly behind him, keeping their distance. It wasn't fair to either one of them. They were right, his back was killing him, turning back would be the best course of action.

There was only one thing, he couldn't get the image of Lucy's crumpled face as he left her. _Stupid!_ The embarrassment kept him from heading back. Truthfully, the last week had been consumed by her. Laxus didn't understand how someone so beautiful, so kind, and so forgiving could possibly be interested in him. But she was and he couldn't let her get away. He scratched his head and let all the fear he felt slip away. Yes, the Laxus Dreyar was scared of a girl and his feelings, but for all it was worth, he was heading back. Even if it was too late, even if Lucy laughed at him, Laxus needed to make things right. Gritting his teeth, he reluctantly turned towards Freed and Bickslow.

They recoiled as he stepped closer and he tried to not smirk. "I'm sorry you two and I'll apologize to Ever when I see her, but there's something I have to do." He bent his knees and used his lighting magic to leave.

There was silence as he vanished from his spot and the other two stared at the spot where Laxus was.

It was Bickslow who broke the silence. "Does that mean?"

Freed nodded and let the tears flow down his face happily. "Master Laxus is doing the right thing, I'm so proud!" A puddle formed where his weeping fell.

"Well that's great and all but don't you think he should have taken us with him? Now we have to walk back dude. Not cool." Freed didn't seem to care as he happily skipped down the road. They were going home! He could take a proper shower and maybe Laxus would let him rub his back later.

The day was certainly looking up.


	12. Chapter 12

**Paper Moon**

 **Chapter Twelve**

 **Fairy Tail Guild**

 **Fiore**

Makarov and Gajeel sat on heavily repaired stools, both gripping large mugs. The guild master sipped slowly at his beer and dropped his head on the newly remodeled bar. It had been a long couple of weeks. He let out a loud sigh and turned his face towards the other mage. "Thank Mavis this is all over." Gajeel hummed in agreement and absentmindedly took a large gulp and stared at the wall. "I don't think the guild can handle much more of this." _He_ probably couldn't handle much more either. Both the guild and Makarov were aged, they should be treated as such. _Good luck telling that rowdy bunch of brats that._

Gajeel grunted in agreement. "Yeah, Erza really did a number on the old place." Makarov let out another long suffering sigh. It was rather quiet today, what with half the guild in the infirmary. Gajeel let out a low whistle. "I'm not sure if we're in the clear just yet."

"What makes you say that?" Erza and her team had left for a job, thank the heavens. There really wasn't anyone else who would wreck the place quite like she did. Gajeel seemed to be the bringer of bad news recently. Makarov made a note to force the iron slayer on a new job, the exceed too.

Gajeel took a long drink before he slammed his mug on the creaky bar. "Laxus is coming."

Makarov lifted his head and took another calm sip before spitting it out unceremoniously, spraying Gajeel in the face. "I'm sorry, I thought I heard you say Laxus was coming. He's in the middle of a job so there's no way." His ingrate of a grandson made it very clear that he was leaving for a while and would not return until he was good and ready. No one could hold a grudge quite like Laxus.

Gajeel wiped his face in disgust. "I guess he finished early." The iron dragonslayer shrugged his shoulders and sniffed at the air. _Damn dragon slayers._ There was a loud clap of thunder and flickering of the lights. Laxus was standing in the middle of the hall. Makarov raised his eyebrows. _That's my grandson, dramatic as always. Let's hope he didn't find something else to be mad about._

 _Just smile and nod._ "Laxus my boy, you're back!" the blond mage walked toward Makarov, an unreadable expression on his face. "What can I do for you?" _Well he looks pissed._ _Maybe he found out about the time I had Mira water down his drinks for a week..._

Laxus pulled out one of the stools and sat down on it, the chair squeaking in protest. Laxus placed a heavy arm on the bar and leaned into it. He simply stared at Makarov for an unmeasurable amount of time. It was slightly unnerving. Then finally, Laxus spoke, "have you seen Lucy lately?"

"Ah so this is what this is about. I was wondering what could have driven you back here." So _now_ he wanted to talk, what about when Makarov had basically _handed_ him the girl and he did a vanishing act? The little shit could wait, after all it was his fault the guild was destroyed anyways. "Mira, pass me another one and charge it to Laxus!" The boy had more than enough coin anyways.

"Are you gonna answer me or not? Cause I can just ask anyone else in the guild." Makarov decided to let him stew and remained silent. As if to prove his point, "Hey Cana!" The card mage looked up, irritation in her face. Cana didn't take kindly to being interrupted while drinking.

"What?"

"Have you seen Lucy?"

Cana scrunched her eyes in thought, "Oh yeah, she left on a job near Shirotsume. Something to do with a wedding? Or was it a birthday? You can ask Mira for more info." Laxus smiled triumphantly and put down some money on the counter.

"That's for the drinks, thanks Cana." Laxus turned on his heel, presumably to find Mirajane.

He couldn't just let him go like that. "Laxus, just what are you planning to do once you find Lucy?" His words had the desired effect, Laxus turned toward Makarov once more.

Laxus knew one of the old man's infamous lectures/speeches was coming on. Why couldn't his grandfather let him make things right? The geezer had a point though, Laxus had very little figured out plan-wise. "I simply won't allow you to bring any more harm on Lucy, she's been through enough." _That's why I'm talking to her._ The urge to roll his eyes was overwhelming but the old man's face was dead serious, almost stern. "Lucy is a good person, better than most, probably better than all of us. She more than anyone-"

"As much as I'd love to hear this to the end, I don't have a lot of time. I'm going to find Lucy and make things right." His grandfather stared at him, examining.

"What if she doesn't want to be found? What if you're too late?" This was a test obviously, Laxus could see that. It was Makarov's way of making sure Laxus was sincere. There was a small part of Laxus, however small, that held those same wriggling doubts. He had made up his mind and accepted any and all consequences.

"I have to try." There was _more_ much more Laxus could have said. That would have to do.

* * *

 **Willow Creek**

 **Okiwo Family Ballroom**

 **Fiore**

"Alright, so your jobs are rather simple. Impossible for even an idiot to ruin." The client, a small and distinguished man, Mr. Okiwo said with an air of superiority. He gestured dramatically behind him, to the row of mannequins.

"Never underestimate Natsu." Gray whispered to Lucy under his breath. Lucy couldn't help herself and giggled a little. Gray noticed and sent her a small smile in return. No matter what, Lucy couldn't stay mad at Gray, his heart was in the right place and he simply wanted her to be happy. It was a very backhanded way to do it, but nevertheless. She was starting to miss their easy friendship. There was a small choked noise to her left side, Natsu had evidently heard, although his rebuttal was denied by Erza's firm hold on his shoulder.

Mr. Okiwo glared at the small interruption. "As I was saying, these are your uniforms. You must have them on in order to receive payment." He handed each of them a sparkly sheer looking thing. The group pointedly stared at Gray, who in turn, nervously smiled. "I will assign you each to a separate job, _no distractions._ This is for my daughter's safety." The doors swung open dramatically, a tall girl strutted in. "Ah, just in time. Fairy Tail, I want you to meet my lovely daughter, Gloris."

She was a plain brunette, her arms crossed and face sour. She appeared not to hear her father or notice the wizards around her. "Father, there's no one to carry my dress! It's much too heavy for me and Loren won't do it! What's the point of being the bride if no one listens to you? Fix it."

Lucy didn't like her all that much.

Mr. Okiwo cleared his throat and spoke placating. "Gloris darling, these wizards from Fairy Tail are here to make it all better. Pick who you want, they'll listen." Gloris squealed and she quickly pointed at Lucy and Gray.

"You!" She said to Lucy a bit too harshly. "I want you to carry my bags and take them to the dressing room." _Really? You want me to carry your bags?_ The whole situation seemed kind of degrading. "Now." Lucy frowned and moved towards the door, not used to being bossed around like this. Why hire wizards to do everyday duties? _And from Fairy Tail no less._ Gloris then pointed at Gray. "You, I want you to keep me company." Lucy could have sworn her gaze was rather lecherous. _That's crazy, it's her wedding day... Oh well. Good luck Gray._

She almost felt bad for him when he visibly shivered, Gray liked the more discreet type.

Almost.

Her job was proving to be more annoy than Lucy thought. Once she changed into her uniform, any movement at all was difficult to achieve. It was very form fitting and sheer in a number of places. Places, that if Lucy moved in a particular way would _reveal_ other parts. _Who wants these for a wedding? They're so tacky!_ The bag was also rather heavy and Lucy couldn't help but wonder just how _long_ the train on the dress was. _This bride is sure acting like some kind of prima donna. Why did I get stuck on dress duty? Ugh, she probably couldn't handle my good looks..._ She wondered what Natsu and Erza got stuck doing, hopefully it wasn't as minuscule as her task.

Though she secretly wished they were, hey she was petty.

Lucy dragged the bag down the narrow hall, hoping to lightly damage the contents, rounded the corner, and into the dressing room. It was a large room with a seating area, dark curtains, enormous flower bouquets and by the looks of it, it was all expensive. The towels looked they cost more than Lucy's rent, each. She placed the dress down on the couch. To her surprise (and relief), Gloris was no where to be seen. "How odd. I hope Gray is okay."

"What's odd?" Her eyes widened immediately recognizing the voice, _n_ _o._ Her back tensed in reaction. _There's no way._ Lucy was almost scared of turning around to face him. Laxus was _here. Yes,_ she had planned to talk to him, but _after_ the job. Right now, she had nothing prepared, she had no idea what to say! She was supposed to practice on Virgo later... Lucy slowly turned and her eyes met gray ones. He was leaning against the now closed door, arms crossed. There was an easy smile on his face and Lucy felt the all too familiar blush on her cheeks.

 _How did he even find me? I bet it was one of those snitching traitors._ "Laxus? What are you doing here?" Lucy hissed quietly. "I'm in the middle of a job!" She waved her hands at him. Surprise or not, it was extremely inconvenient; she wasn't going to let him ruin the job she was doing. Lucy needed the money more and she wanted to believe that but Laxus's stupidly beautiful smile was hard to resist and it didn't come out often.

The beauty of it was ruined by Laxus's obvious leer as he swept his eyes over her entire body, the dress left little to the imagination.

"Nice to see you too Lucy." Laxus teased, he pushed off the door and stepped closer to Lucy, unnerving her. He stopped short of touching her, his all-too familiar scent was intoxicating to Lucy. He slowly pushed a lock of hair behind her ear and Lucy was reminded of just how close he was to her.

"Laxus, what are you doing?" Lucy whispered.

He gave her a heart-melting grin before his hand reached out to grip Lucy's wrist and pulled her towards him. A wave of emotions crashed over her as her chest touched his and his head leaned down, intent well known. Her mind started to slip into a space of bliss and Lucy's lips parted slightly, forming a small 'o'. His hand traveled down her side and settled on her hip. _What did I need to say to him again?_ There was an inch of space between the two. _Concentrate, Lucy._ Before his lips could press to hers, Lucy used her hand and pushed the lightning mage away from her. Laxus's eyes and mouth were open in surprise.

"Not so fast, you owe me some answers and when you look at me like that, I can't think." Lucy placed her hands on her hips and paced back and forth. Laxus dropped down defeated on the couch, no doubt not used to rejection. "Firstly, I think I deserve an apology." She glared when Laxus tried to interrupt. "I had no idea what was going on and you acted like an asshole. So apologize."

 _She was right._ "I'm sorry." Laxus whispered. He knew he had a habit to overreact and he had the tendency to be a little melodramatic. Laxus just didn't know how to explain this all to Lucy, there weren't really any explanations for snubbing her and then avoiding the girl. "I really am sorry, I reacted badly and I know it's not enough but I hope you can forgive me." Laxus waited for her response, under all that bravado, he was a little worried she would slap him, and not in the good way.

Lucy nodded after what felt like eternity, she was the forgiving type and an apology is more than she got sometimes. "Secondly, everyone and their mother knows how I feel about you, you know how I feel about you. So my question is," Lucy took in a sharp breath, "how do you feel about me?" _There, I laid it all out. I mean it wasn't the most graceful way to do this, but I did it anyways._

Laxus stared at her, unnerving Lucy with his silence. "Lucy, we made out on a couch."

Her cheeks redder than ever in her life, "I know that!" She tried to quell the adrenaline spike. "Sometimes that doesn't mean anything..." Lucy stood stiller, trying to squash the insecurity she felt; her hands loosely balled by her sides. Laxus stood up from the couch and lifted Lucy's chin. She looked up and made eye contact with him. This time she let him kiss her. When his lips found her, Lucy wondered why she even resisted in the first place. He was-gentler, more hesitant than before. He was uncertain about the course of action.

His kisses were soft and sweet as his lips brushed over hers. He softly broke the kiss, her brown eyes large. "It meant something to me." He said against her mouth.

"Really?" He nodded and Lucy couldn't help but smile widely. Laxus smiled back before kissing her sweetly again.

It was all she wanted, but right now Lucy wanted more.

Not content, Lucy grabbed at his shoulders roughly and forced him to sit back down. "Lucy, what-" She silenced him with her finger. _Men, always so impatient._ Lucy climbed onto the couch as well and placed her legs on each side of him, straddling him. Laxus's hands instantly reached for her hips and nestled there. Lucy examined his face from the nearness. Her eyes swept over his every feature: his scar, the defined cupids bow, that silver in his eyes, those _ridiculous long_ eyelashes. She pressed her lips to his again, hard. Laxus, understanding the mood change, matched her intensity.

Her fingers weaved through his hair and pulled him closer. Their lips clashed and there was a flash of heat when Laxus's hands brushed her thighs, moving higher and bunching her dress up with them. The material gathered around her waist, Lucy broke the kiss to trail her lips down his throat. She had no thoughts right now, only focused on the passion between the two.

The sound of loud steps getting closer alerted Lucy and brought her back to the fact that that she was on a _job,_ and therefore should _not_ be making out with anyone and most certainly not in the bride's dressing room. A small part of her was very irritated, because it seemed like the world was trying to keep Laxus and Lucy apart. It was a very small part."Oh shit." she jumped off of the laughing dragonslayer. "Now is not the time to be laughing! Oh Mavis, I'm the middle of a job," Lucy grumbled as she tried to fix her hair in the mirror. "I really to get my hormones under control." She turned towards Laxus and glared. "You need to either hide or leave but you can't be seen here."

Laxus stepped behind her and embraced her, his mouth near her ear, "don't worry about me Blondie, I got this under control." He stepped away from Lucy.

"Okay, I'll see you after the job?" Did he want to meet back at Magnolia? It was established that there was a _thing_ but much wasn't clear.

"Don't go too far after it." Before she could ask him what he meant, Laxus had jumped through the window and was gone.

 _What the fuck just happened?_ The door opened and in strolled in Gloris and Gray, fully clothed. Gray for his part seemed very tired and wary, flinching a little when Gloris moved towards the bag on the floor. _Oops, how did that get there?_

Lucy waited nervously for the neurotic woman to freak out but received no words. Gloris simply grabbed it and said very clearly. "Get out."

"You don't have to tell me twice." Lucy mumbled and left the room, followed by Gray. No sooner had they rounded the corner when he pounced.

"Laxus was here wasn't he?"

Lucy stared at Gray, how did he know? "What?"

He shrugged, "You're all flushed and we both know that shade is when you have a sexual encounter of sorts. Unless you were doing it manually, it had to be Laxus." Lucy tried not to flush harder.

"So, I could have been making out with a servant." She raised her eyebrow in challenge.

Gray rolled his eyes very sarcastically. "You only wish you were as casual as that." _Drat, he's got me! "_ Don't look at me like that, I won't say anything."

"You better not or I'll tell Juvia about that wet dream you had about her."

The ice mage turned a very sickly color and his voice cracked, "IT WAS ONE TIME!"

 **Okay I know its been months and I have no excuse, this chapter was very hard to get through... We're wrapping up shortly, only about two chapters left, stick around and let me know what you think. I promise we'll all get that smut**


	13. Chapter 13

_**Paper Moon**_

 **Chapter Thirteen**

There had to be some kind of divine being watching over her because the rest of the wedding somehow went off without a hitch, of course the bride threw a few minor temper tantrums and attempted to climb out the windows, but Mr. Okiwo was able to calm her down enough to continue with the ceremony. For Lucy, it was all too surreal and the stupid ceremony couldn't seem to go fast enough. Her head wasn't exactly in the 'finish-the-job' state, but no matter what, she needed to see it through. They were only required to be there for the actual wedding process, not the reception, so that was a plus that she was looking forward to. As soon as she got the all clear, she would be gone. For now, Lucy stood at the back of the ballroom, where the wedding was being held and tried not to think _too_ hard about the events that had just transpired.

The blonde held in her yawn and shifted her weight from one leg to another. It wouldn't do to have her leg fall asleep. From her place in the back, she could just make out Natsu in the corner and Erza at the front. Erza and Natsu had been placed in charge of helping the servants set up the reception. Apparently, that was something Natsu _could_ screw up and after bringing Mr. Okiwo near tears, he was put on surveillance instead. It seemed to fit him much better even if he was pretending to be a ninja. Besides being embarrassing, by the look on Erza's face and the twitch of her hand, the requip mage didn't think much of it.

Basically, if Natsu didn't cut it out, Erza was going to beat him.

Lucy hummed to clear her throat and looked around. Gray stood in the back as well, on the other side of the aisle next to Lucy. Everyone in the room was waiting for the bride to enter through those double doors. The guests from both sides looked exactly the same, dressed in various shades of lilac, it was easy to see which side was the bride's, as they all had a similar twisted grimace plastered on. Minutes crept by painfully and just before she was about to lose it and summon Gemini to imitate the bride, the orchestra started playing and all the guests stood at attention. The bride finally strolled in, and to no one's surprise, a frown in place.

"She looks unhappy." Lucy murmured under her breath. Gloris, the bride took her place at the front of the room. The music stopped and the priest started the ceremony. She heard Gray rustle next to her..

"It's cause it's an arranged marriage and the client didn't want his daughter running away or something like that." Gray leaned over to Lucy and whispered in her ear. She tore her eyes away from the wood pews, a sense of pity curled in her chest. _I kind of feel bad for her, I've been there before…_ she tried not to think about the those days, when her father tried to sell her off to the highest bidder. It was better to remember him in his later years...

She looked over at the groom, it explained a lot, Gloris seemed to like tall, dark men and the groom was not exactly the paragon of tall and dark. Suddenly, an invasive thought popped into her head and she grinned wickedly. "Wait, how do you know?" From the corner of her eyes, she could see the ice mage freeze up and blush vividly. _Oh? Did I hit a nerve?_ "Oh…" Lucy smiled mischievously. "Gray, you didn't do anything bad did you?" She teased, her eyes scrunching.

He scowled back at her. "It was nothing! She was all handsy and then she cried when I rejected her." Gray shoved his hands into his pockets aggressively. "That's when she told me everything." Lucy opened her mouth and went to ask him something else but Mr. Okiwo fixed them with a sharp glare. _Eep! I better step away from him before he refuses to pay us._ Losing two jobs' worth in one month was not going to help her rent situation. She shuffled to the left again and turned her head away. Not being able to speak to Gray again gave her an extra ordinate amount of time. Why was it that weddings were so boring?

The silence did give her time to reflect on the events of the day. More specifically, the _person_ of her day.

 _Laxus._

Lucy nearly sighed dreamily. After all this confusion, one thing was clear to her, Laxus was into her, so much so that he traveled all the way here to Willow Creek instead of waiting for her to get back to the guild. It at least showed that the last couple of weeks affected him just as much as it had her. Her feelings were returned and soon, they would completely clear everything up and start over, hopefully together.

More than that, the thought of having the blond mage between her thighs caused a bright red flush to spread from her cheeks to her neck. _Clear your dirty thoughts Lucy! You're in the middle of a job in case you forgot._ She was definitely going insane, being on Natsu's team had finally gotten to here head. _Great now I'm scolding myself. What's next?_

She resisted the urge to impatiently tap her foot. How long did weddings usually take? Was it really that difficult to hold hands and repeat some words? Although the priest was now on some bit about holy matrimony; Gray leaned over once more. "What's got you so hot and bothered?" Lucy turned her head sharply and almost smacked Gray in the face with her head. She glared at him, wasn't he supposed to _not_ talk to her? Lucy fixed her eyes straight ahead at the couple, before turning back and glaring at him harder. "Don't give that look, you've been blushing over there for a few minutes now."

"I'm not supposed to be talking to you, now go back before the client notices!" She hissed and scanned the room for Mr. Okiwo's scolding expression.

Gray shrugged, "he's not even paying attention to us, besides, wouldn't you rather not be here?"

Lucy dropped the glare and gaped at Gray. _Just what was he suggesting?_ "Gray, I can't. We're in the middle of a job! Besides, what would I tell Erza and Natsu?" Her sense of nakama was so much more important. She had to finish this job, it wasn't too long before she could leave anyways.

"I'll cover for you, if you want." Lucy fought with herself on that one. Gray was offering to help her reunite with Laxus. The fact that he had offered really showed how amazing her team was because she was certain Erza and Natsu would do the same in Gray's position. What kind of teammate would she be if she just abandoned them in the middle of a job? It took all of ten seconds for Lucy to make up her mind.

Laxus could wait a little longer.

She smiled and shook her head. "No, it's fine, it's just until the recital, we can leave after. I wanna see this through." Gray shrugged and leaned back against the wall. Nonchalant as he acted, Lucy knew she had made the right decision by sticking to her team.

"It's cool, just wanted to help." Her heart warmed at the thoughtfulness of her teammate, Gray really was such a great guy.

"I really appreciate it." Lucy flashed him a smile and then straightened out and stood silently for the remainder of the ceremony. It was nearing the end however, and she watched as Gloris signed her name on a sheet and a glowing light eclipsed the room before disappearing again. _That's it? Seems really short and impersonal for something that'll attach you forever._ Lucy knew everything about contracts, from time with her father to her spirits, it just all seemed so formal…

The guests all stood once again and the newlyweds left the ballroom, guest filing behind them. Lucy caught a glimpse of Erza directing the traffic into coaches. It started to dawn on Lucy that perhaps her job might not quite be done. She was proven right when half an hour later, she was sitting in a small table towards the back in the second ballroom.

Where the recital was being held.

Instead of in a hotel somewhere in town having insanely amazing sex. Lucy shut her eyes and sighed before sitting up straight. "Will this job ever end?" She bemoaned and wallowed at her bad luck. _Think of your rent. You need the money for that._ Maybe Laxus would let her move in with him, then she wouldn't _have_ to pay rent. Lucy sighed once more. She tapped her fingers on the table she was occupying before leaning back in her chair. At least she didn't have to stand, those ridiculous heels were killing her.

She heard the chair next to her being pulled out and Lucy glanced over at the noise. Gray set his body into the chair and leaned back. "Is this seat taken?" Lucy cracked a smile and shook her head. He was her quietest friend, so she knew conversation would be limited and she could pursue her thoughts uninterrupted, or she thought. "What's with the face?"

"What face?" He raised an eyebrow at her and she blushed. Gray wasn't stupid, he knew her expressions pretty well. He knew when she lied. "Don't worry about it, I'm just being childish."

It looked like he wanted to say something but said nothing. The two sat in silence for a few minutes, with Lucy tapping the glass table and Gray scanning the room. "Hey Lucy."

His voice interrupted her daydreams, she hummed at him. "Hmm?" Her eyes lazily followed to where he was signaling. Past the crowd of guests, past the bride and her scowl. Lucy's mouth opened in shock. _No way, what's he doing here? Is he crazy?_ Towards the back of the ballroom, near the exit stood Laxus, dressed in a suit, his signature coat over his shoulders.

His eyes caught Lucy's, a smirk spread on his face and he nudged his head towards him. He looked so handsome, especially in that fitted outfit.

Lucy simply stared as a blush crept on her face. "I'll cover for you, go." Her eyes ripped from the dragon slayer to Gray. _Is he offering again?_ Somehow, this time was impossible to deny.

"Okay, tell them I wasn't feeling so good." Lucy hugged the ice mage warmly, ignoring the shocked noise that came out of him and stood up. "Thanks Gray."

He smiled at her then, "No problem. Go get him Lucy." Lucy smiled widely at the ice mage and promised herself to cover for him when he hid from Juvia. Lucy dodged through the waiters and weaved past the guests. She quickly crossed the room and stood in front of Laxus. They stared at one another for a few moments before Lucy gave him her biggest smile.

"Hi." She said a little breathlessly. Lucy's hands were behind her back and she rocked a little on her toes.

Laxus visibly relaxed and smiled back at her. "Hey," before tensing up again. bemused, Lucy watched his expression as he struggled for the right words. What was he about to say? Should she be worried? "I promise I'm not a creep!" His face was tinged a pale pink.

Whatever it was, Lucy wasn't quite expecting that. Lucy scrunched her eyebrow in confusion. "Whoa, what's this about?" She looked at him in disbelief as Laxus averted his eyes. "I meant showing up here. I thought this would be really romantic in my head but now that I think about it, this is probably very stalker-ish and weird." He rubbed the back of his neck, visibly embarrassed.

She couldn't help it, a small giggle left her throat and he glared at her. "Sorry, it's just...I didn't even think about that until you mentioned it!" Laxus reddened even more.

"Oh."

"Don't be like that," Lucy said reassuringly and stretched out her hand, "wanna get out of here?" Laxus relaxed once more at her reassurance and took her hand in his.

Together, the two of them managed to sneak out of the wedding ceremony and were now on the streets of the little town. They walked in silence mostly, unless Lucy let out a giggle.

Laxus glanced at her and tugged at their joined hands, "what was that?"

She bit her lip before answering, not looking at him, but straight ahead. "I just, this is my first time skipping out on a job. I feel like such a rebel!" She chanced a look at his expression, Laxus had a raised eyebrow and he appeared to be holding back a laugh.

"Oh, is that all? Look at you, I might have to call the Rune Knights and report such a rebellious criminal." _Is he trying to make a joke? He's so cute! "_ I could have Gajeel arrest you if you want."

"No, anything but that!" Lucy followed along and let her laughs out. What a bizarre turn of events. Here they were, mostly likely about to have insane amounts of sex with one another in the near future and they were attempting to crack jokes. _Definitely the weirdest foreplay I've ever had._

She awaited his comeback and when it didn't come and instead Laxus stopped walking, Lucy looked at him again, confused. The tips of his ears were red and he looked nervous again. "Can I ask you a few questions?"

She was slightly taken back by the odd request but nodded anyways.

"Why me?"

Oh boy, here it was. The big one. How did she even begin to answer that? Where to start? Laxus let go of her hand and turned so they were directly in front of each other. His piercing stare gave no room for half truths. Seeing little room for any other action except for maybe sprinting away like she did last time, Lucy took a deep breath and attempted to answer the question the best she could. "It's a really long story and I really couldn't tell you all the little details. So I'm just gonna go with short and sweet. Sure you were a dick and all at the beginning, and you kind of are now-"

"Nice compliment by the way."

Lucy blushed under his scrutiny. "Do you wanna know the answer or not?" He shrugged and Lucy rolled her eyes but continued. "How does anyone really know? After that snowman thing that one time, it just started to search for you in the guild and my heart ran so fast when I would spot you, and I thought about you _all_ the time, very inconvenient by the way, and I just knew, you were the one I wanted." She finished lamely.

"Way to keep it short and sweet. I definitely noticed all those stares, you're not very discreet, you know that?" He was teasing her, after she had poured her heart out, way to go Laxus. "So you decided you liked me because of a snowman?"

She pouted. "Well, when you put it that way…"

Laxus chuckled deeply. "I'm just messing with ya. I had a thing for you way before that so…" Lucy visibly brightened at his response. Did she hear that right?

"Wait you did?" Laxus looked bashful and took her hand again. He started to lead them back towards the hotel he was staying at but Lucy dug her heels into the ground. "Nuh uh, we're not going anywhere until you explain."

Laxus ran his free hand over his face, "are you always this difficult?" Lucy made so sign to move so Laxus let out an ever-suffering sigh. "I've had a thing for you since the Grand Magic Games." Lucy's eyes widened. _Holy crap, he had a thing for me longer than I did for him!_

"Why _didn't you say something?"_ Lucy asked disbelieving. All this time…

"I'm not exactly the smoothest guy around there, if you haven't noticed." Lucy had to agree on that. She found it endearing most of the time, but vanishing for three weeks was a little over the top. "Besides," Laxus looked away and fidgeted with his coat. Lucy raised her eyebrow, waiting for the rest of his sentence.

"Besides what?" She could sense there was more to this than Laxus wanted to admit. Why did he look so uncomfortable?

"You were with Gray." _Wait what? Did I hear him right?_ "It's okay, really, all the dragonslayers kind of knew about that." Laxus rushed to spit out the rest of his sentence while Lucy stood there, mouth open, and in shock.

Lucy didn't think anyone knew about that little fling with Gray.

It was rather brief, lasting only a few months during and after the Grand Magic Games. They were never officially dating but that didn't stop them from trying to screw on every available surface. It ended just as quickly as it started and the two remained close friends and their short relationship, _if you could call it that,_ was left in the past as if nothing had happened.

"How-how did you know about that?"

Laxus let out a booming laugh. "We could all smell him all over you. Like I said you're not very discreet."

Lucy rushed to assert herself, "there's nothing going on with Gray and I anymore and we definitely don't have feelings for each other. It was really short and-"

Laxus tugged her into a warm hug, "I know, I'm not the jealous type, you don't have to worry. I only brought it up because you wanted to know why I never tried to ask you out. I _do_ believe in bro-code you know, these things take time."

 _Holy shit could he be more perfect?_ Lucy was overwhelmed with emotion and surged forward, pulled him down by his tie and planted her lips on his.

Laxus was a little surprised but quickly followed. They stood there, in the middle of the street, kissing as if their lives depended on it. Lucy pulled away and smiled.

"Hey Laxus?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you want, will you be my boyfriend?"

His smile widened and he chuckled once more. "I thought you'd never ask. Yeah, I will."

Her heart swelled in triumph and she threw her arms around the large man. Lucy suddenly felt giddy. _Laxus Dreyar is my boyfriend!_ She could have squealed. Next stop, hopefully the bedroom.

 **Okay I'm so sorry for the late chapter, I lost my inspiration for this story along the way, and I had a difficult semester at Uni. I'm so happy with all the reviews and follows and favorites, you all are total babes and I love you all!**

 **One chapter left to go, and I promise it won't take me five months to write it!**


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